Pieces of a Daydream
by Midnight Rain19
Summary: Hinata always found it easier just to daydream, using it as a way to escape from her troubled relationship with her father and muse about the blonde haired blue eyed boy who probably didn't even know her name. Keeping her feelings concealed seemed like the best option for her to do up until the night her admirer noticed her, but her admirer may have problems of his own...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Hey, this is my first Naruto fanfic which will be a High School AU. I've read a lot of Naruto stories over the years and I've had this story idea in mind for a while. Any thoughts or feedback is appreciated and welcomed.

**Chapter 1: The Incident in the Night **

"Hinata, you're doing it again, aren't you?" Sakura teased gently by her ear.

Hinata snapped out of her reverie as Sakura continued to lightly tap her shoulder.

"Oh, sorry about that Sakura. What were you saying?" Hinata asked softly.

Sakura shook her head with a smile. "What were you thinking about that you didn't hear me calling out your name?"

Hinata twiddled her thumbs nervously with a blush before letting out a sigh and pointing in the direction of the well-known blonde of their class currently fast asleep.

Sakura followed her line of sight and smirked when she realized it was Naruto that she had been thinking about.

"Ah, Naruto again, huh? You know, I don't think he's dating anyone at the moment so I could always try to hook you two-"Sakura was suddenly cut off by Hinata rapidly shaking her head in disagreement.

"That's okay Sakura...I don't think he even knows my name, let alone knows that I exist." Hinata quietly muttered.

Sakura frowned at Hinata's quick objection, but brightened as a thought came back to her. "That reminds me, Sasuke is supposed to be holding an end of the year party at his house this Saturday at 9 pm. Naruto will surely be there too and it could be your chance to finally talk to him!"

Hinata shuffled her feet uncomfortably at Sakura's suggestion. It wasn't that she didn't want to go to the party; it was more that she wasn't sure how she would be able to talk to Naruto without turning into a stuttering mess.

'_Though Sakura makes a good point though. All I've been doing since freshman year is watching Naruto from afar. If I could at least work up the nerve to say a few words to him, we could be friends…' _Hinata silently pondered, just as the bell for first period's end sounded in the air.

"I can tell you're still a bit unsure, so I'll give you some more time to think about it. You can tell me what decision you've gone with on Friday, okay?" Sakura said.

Hinata smiled and nodded her head in agreement, turning to walk down the hall to her English class. Sakura may have dropped the subject for now, but she knew this wouldn't be the last time she would hear about the party.

~**X**~

"Hey idiot, why are you late for practice?" Kiba called out to him, tossing him a towel to get ready for warm-ups.

Naruto shrugged and let out a yawn as he changed into his Konoha High's typical red and white uniform. "Asuma kept me late for sleeping in class, no big deal."

Kiba scoffed before shaking his head with a laugh. "Typical Naruto; hey, did you hear about Sasuke's annual end of the year party?"

Naruto internally sneered at the mention of Sasuke, but nodded his head. "Yeah, I heard him mention it."

Kiba grinned toothily and moved to toss his basketball into the hoop. "Are you going to go? I heard that even some girls from the neighboring Suna High are going to be there."

'_Like any girls would want to go out with you once they knew about your past. All everyone knows you for is just being the class clown and one of the shooting guards of the basketball team…' _A spiteful voice taunted to him internally.

"Naruto probably wouldn't even know when a girl is actually flirting with him." A voice mused from behind them.

Naruto scowled and moved throw his basketball harshly into Sasuke's hands. "Bastard, who asked you?!"

Sasuke casually received the ball and dribbled it between his hands slowly. "I'm only saying; you seem to be pretty clueless when it comes to woman."

"He makes a good point you know." Kiba piped up, only to be sent a side glare from Naruto to stay out of it.

"I bet you couldn't even find one girl at my party to even get with for the night." Sasuke pried on, knowing he was going to only increase Naruto's rage.

"Oh, yeah? Put 50 dollars on it that I will." Naruto challenged back, putting his hand out.

Sasuke shrugged before nodding his head agreement and shaking his hand. "I hope you realize that you just loss 50 dollars."

"Hey, you three! Get back to practice; we have a game coming up next week!" Gai called out to them, blowing his whistle to get their attention.

Kiba let out a sigh as he watched Naruto get back to his leg and arm stretches. "Do you really think you'll be able to win that bet?"

Naruto chose to say nothing back as he concentrated on his exercise. '_Probably not, but I'm not about to let that stop me from trying though.'_

~**X**~

Just as Hinata figured, Sakura and the rest of her group of friends were discussing Sasuke's party during their lunch hour.

"What were you thinking of wearing Sakura? I don't think that emerald cocktail dress you wore last year is going to catch Sasuke's interest." Ino asked.

"Don't worry about what I'm going to wear Ino; I plan on making it a surprise! Anyways, shouldn't you be more worried about what you're going to wear?" Sakura shot back with a smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean? Everyone knows I'm the fashion expert of the group!" Ino retorted back.

Tenten sighed as she watched the two begin to argue back and forth. "Hinata, I don't know how you always stay so calm around these two."

Hinata said nothing back, dreamily stirring at her half empty glass of water until Tenten snapped her fingers in front of her face to get her attention.

Hinata looked up in alarm and felt her face flush when she realized all of her friends were giving her a confused look.

"Glad to see you're back with us." Tenten teased, causing Hinata's face to redden even more.

Sakura glanced away from Ino to send Hinata an amused look. "Daydreaming about Naruto again?"

Ino arched an eyebrow at the mention of Naruto. "I'm not sure what you see in him Hinata to be honest. He gets into trouble with almost all of our teachers for his behavior on a daily basis and is only recognized for being on the basketball team."

"There's more to him than his attitude." Hinata answered back gingerly. '_People are usually so quick to pass judgment on Naruto that they never really get a chance to know him…I'm sure there's a reason why he acts out in the first place.'_

"Guys, we shouldn't be teasing Hinata about this!We should be helping them get together." Sakura cheered out.

"Ooh, we can head to the mall after school Friday to pick out what we'll wear to the party! I know the perfect stores we can head to." Ino suggested.

Tenten scoffed as she threw her trash into a nearby bin. "I didn't wear a dress to last year's party and I don't plan to this year either."

"Don't be that way Tenten! Don't you want to try show off your curves to Neji?" Ino said tauntingly, grinning when her statement caused Tenten's cheeks to turn a pinkish hue.

Hinata frowned at her friends' discussion of the assortment of things they needed to buy before Friday arrived.

"But…But, I didn't even say I was going to the party yet." Hinata mumbled under her breathe.

'_I guess this means I must find some way to sneak away from the manor without Father knowing.' _Hinata considered, as she arrived back home from school later that day.

Outside, she could hear the familiar sounds of her Father and sister sparring each other. Hinata peeked around the corner to watch them for a moment, smiling when she noticed Hanabi had perfected a move she had been working on for the past few weeks.

Hiashi paused in his movements when he realized Hinata was watching them. "Is there something that you need? I'm sure you have plenty of homework to get started on."

Hinata stepped back in surprise at her father's stinging voice and quickly proceeded to leave. Just as she turned to go though, she briefly saw the distraught look Hanabi sent her over their father's demeanor.

Hinata let out a low groan and quietly set her backpack down on the lavender comforter of her bed. Even though her father spent more time focusing on her sister now, he still somehow managed to keep track of making sure she got all her own work done by having his assistants check on her every now and then.

After a few hours had passed, Hinata let out a sigh of relief at having finished the majority of her work due for the week. A quick glance at her clock let her know it was only half past 8, plenty of time to finish some of the drawings she had created over the month.

Hinata blushed slightly as she flicked though some past sketches she had done. Most of her best ideas in her opinion came from the small things she saw throughout the day and her own imagination.

'_Hmm, this one could use more shading on the side.' _Hinata considered, darkening the outline of Naruto's happy disposition over the drawing she had done of him after he had scored the winning shot at one of their games.

"I'm sure Naruto went out to celebrate with ramen afterwards." Hinata whispered to herself with a smile before closing back the sketchbook.

'_Going to this party probably won't change anything between us, but it would be nice to get to know Naruto outside of just watching him play.' _ Hinata mused.

~**X**~

Damn it, Jiraiya forgot to pay the water bill again! He probably wasted all his money on buying drinks for woman again." Naruto grumbled out, turning the kitchen sinks faucets on and off to no avail.

Naruto eventually gave up on the water and moved to the fridge to take out one of the many water bottles he had prepared for a situation like this. Even though Jiraiya was his legal guardian and Naruto knew that he cared about him, he was often away either on extended business trips or too busy trying and mostly failing to get with a new woman for the week.

"Stupid old man, he could have at least reminded me when the bill was due. I could have probably paid this month's amount with the money I saved up from my last job." Naruto grumbled aloud.

'_Speaking of money, what will you even wear to Sasuke's party? Those old rags you call clothes in your closet aren't going to cut it.' _A voice snickered in the back of his mind.

"Shut up, I don't need your input on that matter." Naruto hissed out quietly.

'_Oh, but don't you? After all, you're going to lose 50 hard-earned dollars if you don't dress to impress some girl.' _He continued on.

"I said I don't need your damn input you stupid fox!" Naruto roared out loudly into the air and with that he could finally hear the fox's arrogant laughter recede.

Naruto clutched his head in aggravation and internally counted to 10 until he felt his anger lessen. No matter how bad things got, he would not succumb to the madness the fox tempted him to fall into.

Naruto trudged over to his closet and sighed when he noticed there really wasn't much in his closet for him to wear. Outside of Konoha High's uniform for boys, most of his other clothes were tattered or in his dirty laundry hamper.

Naruto turned around to gaze over the messy piles scattered throughout his room. Eventually, Naruto managed to pick out his favorite orange jacket that he usually wore with his black shirt and jeans.

'_Today is only Wednesday, so I have enough time to wash and iron this stuff out. Though that only solves one part of my problem…' _Naruto thought with a groan.

As Naruto set the clothes onto his bed, he heard his phone buzz from within his pocket. Naruto quickly fished it out and scowled when he read over the message.

"_**Seeing as I haven't heard from you in a while, I just wanted to make sure our bet involving the party was still on. Or did you plan on giving me my 50 bucks on Friday to admit defeat early?" –Sasuke**_

Naruto made sure to read over the text twice before he typed his message back.

"_**You know, I'm going to enjoy seeing that smug ass smirk of yours fall from your face when the exact opposite happens come Saturday."**_

~**X**~

Hinata nervously sighed and tucked her finished curled hair behind her shoulder. She had followed all of the advice Ino had given her on preparing for the party by wearing the lilac dress she had picked out during their shopping trip along with a matching pearl necklace and earrings she had managed to dig up from her jewelry box.

Sakura had already sent her a text earlier saying that she was heading to the party and it was only a little past 9 o clock now.

"All that's left to do now is find a way to quietly escape." Hinata whispered to herself, tiptoeing carefully out of her room down the hall.

Hinata glimpsed slowly into her Father's room and saw him silently reading at a magazine. Hinata watched him for about a minute longer before continuing to tiptoe down the hall. The only rooms she needed to get past now were Neji and Hanabi's rooms.

Just as Hinata made it past Hanabi's room, she heard a voice clear their throat behind her. Hinata immediately stiffened in fear at having to face her father, but relaxed slightly when she realized it was only Hanabi.

Hanabi glanced over Hinata's attire curiously before letting out a small giggle. "Where are you going off at this time of day? Have a date you don't want Neji or father finding out about?"

Hinata blushed at her sister's teasing and shook her head. "There's a party Sakura and the others invited me to."

"It's not like you to want to sneak out to go to a party of all things; it must be the party of the year." Hanabi stated casually.

Hinata nodded her head, casting a quick glance down at her watch. "I should really get heading out, you won't tell father, will you?"

Hanabi shook her head and sent her sister a grin. "Go out and enjoy yourself; Neji already left out 30 minutes ago."

Hinata gaped in slight surprise at that before she smiled in agreement and hastily left the manor in case anyone else heard them.

It took Hinata around 20 minutes to get to Sasuke's house using the old convertible she had bought last year from working an array of odd jobs.

'_It seems like Sasuke could have invited the whole school here. Where is my usual group of friends?' _ Hinata pondered with a frown, scouting the area of any sign of Sakura's trademark pink hair.

"Hey, Hinata; you finally made it!" Sakura called out to her from amidst one of the crowds.

Hinata smiled lightly as she followed Sakura over to rest of their group of friends. "Glad you could make it!" Ino said to her with a grin.

"What were guys doing before I got here?" Hinata questioned.

Tenten shrugged, fanning her face with her hands to ward off the heat. "Nothing much really, mainly just talking and greeting a few people we haven't seen in a while. We were about to head on to the dancefloor; want to come?"

Hinata was about to respond back, but froze when she saw out of the corner of her eye Neji approaching them.

'_I can't let Neji see that I'm here! He'll surely try to get me to leave and I haven't even gotten a chance to talk to Naruto yet!' _Hinata thought in a panic.

"Um, I'm actually getting a bit thirsty from how warm it is in here, but I'll meet you guys there in a few." Hinata stammered out quickly, heading in the direction of the punch bowl outside before Tenten could reply back.

Hinata calmly took a deep breathe in to calm her pounding heart. Neji hadn't seen her and she could still roam around the party for at least an hour or two longer until she needed to head back home.

Hinata slowly poured herself a small cup of punch and frowned warily when a bitter taste hit her tongue.

'_Something was off about that punch. Could it have been possibly spiked?' _ Hinata thought worriedly, deciding to pour the rest of the drink into the trash. Beside her, a variety of couples were already beginning to kiss heatedly under the influence of the concoction.

Hinata reddened uncomfortably and moved away the growing frenzy to hopefully find her friends by the dancefloor still.

Unfortunately when she returned, Hinata found no trace of her friends among the partygoers.

Hinata pouted and nearly turned to head back outside to look for them, but was stopped by a tap on her shoulder.

"Hinata, is that you? I wasn't expecting to see you at a party like this!" Kiba laughed out.

Hinata awkwardly laughed in agreement. She really didn't know Kiba that well outside of a few classes they had been in together over the years and one group project they had done together back in sophomore year.

"So, are you enjoying yourself? This is some party, isn't it?" Kiba questioned, raising his voice an octave higher over the blaring music.

Hinata managed to nod her head, but was starting to feel her stomach churn uncomfortably. She had been hoping she hadn't drunk enough of that punch to feel its effects like others had, but she appeared to be wrong.

"Ah excuse me Kiba, but I really need to head to the restroom." Hinata politely spoke up. In the ensuing few minutes that passed, Hinata bitterly took in the fact that all the bathrooms within Sasuke's house had lengthy lines.

'_Oh, there's no way I'll be able to keep this down waiting in line, but I don't want puke in the bushes of all places…' _Hinata pondered in dismay, biting her lip to hold back the burning sensation threatening to come up.

Eventually, Hinata could feel the sickness in her stomach beginning to win as she moved to quickly rush around a corner out of view.

~**X**~

"Damn it, I still haven't found a girl and it's getting close to midnight! There's no way I can fork over that much money to Sasuke and ever live to hear it down." Naruto cursed under his breathe.

For the entire night, Naruto had been able to strike up a conversation with girls from both Konoha and Suna High, but he had never been able to make it past hello and a few other words before they sauntered off to the next guy.

'_Is there something about me that's so off putting? It's not like I'm saying nor doing anything that's disgusting or mean.' _Naruto considered with a sigh.

Naruto continued walking throughout different corridors of the house and stopped when he heard what sounded like a retching noise coming from the bushes.

Naruto peered over towards the sound and gained a look of an alarm when he saw a violet haired girl bending at the bushes.

'_She doesn't look too good; I should go check to see if she's okay.' _Naruto reasoned, coming up behind her to soothingly pat her back.

Hinata jumped back in shock as soon as she felt someone touch her shoulder. Cautiously, Hinata looked over her shoulders and felt a whole new wave of nausea come over her when she realized it was Naruto.

'_No, no, no, this was not how I wanted to meet Naruto! He's the last person who I want seeing me like this!' _Hinata bewailed to herself silently, swallowing back the sour taste still resonating on her tongue.

"Hey are you going to be okay? It looks like something didn't sit well with your stomach." Naruto asked, helping Hinata back to a standing position.

Hinata weakly nodded her head, her face growing warm from a mix of embarrassment and surprise at Naruto's concern for her. Naruto took his time in slowly guiding her back to the house, all the while sending her his characteristic grin that everything would be fine.

Once they were back inside, Naruto left her side for a moment to get her some water. Hinata could only watch him leave with dazed smile, still unsure if all of this wasn't just a daydream she would soon be awakened from by one of her friends.

The scene of Naruto helping her replayed in her mind like a broken record. Perhaps it was only a fluke though that Naruto had been the one to find her on this night.

~x~ _**Chapter 1 End**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Thanks for all the feedback, favorites, and follows! I'm glad people are interested and enjoying the story! I appreciate your thoughts.

**RealzLightz- **I was considering for a moment if Hinata should vomit on Naruto, but I thought that was a bit too gross lol.

**Chapter 2: Opportunity Strikes **

"This is really happening Hinata, don't mess things up!" Hinata recited to herself quietly, waiting anxiously for Naruto to return back. Her stomach was already starting to feel slightly better since she had rid it of the punch, but that was only paving the way for new giddy feelings to arise.

'_What should I even say to him? It's already awkward and embarrassing enough that he came up behind me while I was throwing up! All I can think of right now is saying thank you for his help…' _Hinata thought with a sigh, looking back towards the kitchen with a blush.

Hinata leaned back into the couch and closed her eyes to focus more on things she could try and say to Naruto until she felt someone tugging on her arm.

"Hinata, where have you been? Ino and I have been looking all over the house for you! Come on, we're about to go take some pictures out by the front gate." Sakura stated.

Hinata blinked in confusion before her pearly eyes widened in alarm. "Hold on Sakura, I'm waiting for Naruto to come back."

"Naruto? I haven't seen him all night though; I'm guessing he chose not to come to the party after all." Sakura replied back.

Hinata shook her head, pointing back in the direction of the kitchen. "He did come though; he just went to the kitchen to get me some water. He'll be right back."

Sakura arched an eyebrow at that and glanced towards the kitchen for any signs of the blonde, but saw no one matching his description.

"Hinata, I think you might have been seeing things since it is dark out. A lot of guys at this party have blonde hair after all." Sakura considered.

"I'm know it was him though." Hinata mumbled back, reluctantly getting up to follow Sakura and meet with the others when she continued to pull on her hand.

Hinata gave one last look back towards the kitchen and sighed. '_Another chance lost…'_

~**X**~

"Does Sasuke not have any regular drinks? How is it I can't find any water in here?!" Naruto grumbled aloud, searching his fridge for any type of water bottle amongst the different sodas and energy drinks.

"Dang it, I don't want that girl passing out on the sofa and some random guy taking advantage of her. I guess giving her some tap water will help her feel less nauseous." Naruto concluded, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and pouring in some water until the glass was around half full.

As soon as Naruto turned around though, he was greeted by Sasuke giving him amused look.

"You do know that there is a drink table in the backyard, right?" He questioned.

"Yeah I saw it, I'm not stupid; now get the hell out of my way! I need to give this to a girl." Naruto snapped back, pushing him out of the way.

Sasuke furrowed his brows at that. "Hold on, _**you **_met someone? This isn't another one of your jokes, is it?"

Naruto turned slightly to give him a victorious grin. "Nope, it isn't! I actually haven't had a proper conversation with her yet though, but when I do; I'll take my 50 bucks."

"This so called girl is real though, correct? That's what I'm truly concerned about." Sasuke mused sarcastically.

"Damn it, don't you start with me! This girl is real and I'll prove it to you." Naruto growled out, leading the way back into the living room.

'_What the? Where did she go? I'm sure this was the spot where I sat her down.' _Naruto pondered, glancing around the area for Hinata before eventually letting out a sigh.

"Is something wrong Naruto? Or is this so called 'girl' invisible?" Sasuke questioned with a yawn.

"I'm not making her up, I swear." Naruto grumbled out.

Sasuke frowned slightly when he realized Naruto was being serious and brushed a hand through his raven black hair with a scoff.

"What did she look like then? She couldn't have walked too far away if you describe her to me." Sasuke asked.

Naruto's face brightened at the suggestion, but drooped as he mulled it over. "Um, I don't have many details I can give you since I was mainly focusing on helping her get back inside. All I really know is that she had long blue-violet hair and unusual colored eyes; like a pale white color."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's description. "Idiot, how is that small amount of information going to help us? Did you at least possibly get her name?"

"Uh…I was going to if that helps!" Naruto replied back goofily, causing Sasuke's scowl to deepen.

'_Unusual colored eyes…the only people in this city that properly fit that type of description are the Hyuga, but the only person that comes to mind from that family is Neji.' _Sasuke reflected.

"Don't think over it too hard man, I'll find her eventually; even if it's not at this party." Naruto stated, getting Sasuke's attention again.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders before he glanced at a nearby wall clock and started smirking. "Well, its 5 minutes to midnight now and I'm pretty sure you're not going to find her in that amount of time. So, what was it you were saying about the 50 dollars?"

'_Damn, I was hoping he forgot about that.' _Naruto thought with a groan, taking out his wallet.

~**X**~

"Hinata, you're barely smiling in any of these photos! Is something troubling you?" Sakura inquired.

Hinata shook her head, forcing herself to smile to ward off the concerned looks her friends were sending her. "I'm alright, really. I'm just getting a bit sleepy is all."

"It has gotten pretty late. I think it's already past midnight now." Tenten said, peering up at the full moon.

'_Past midnight?! I need to get back home!' _Hinata thought in surprise. "Ah, sorry guys; I should get heading back home."

"We understand Hinata; we'll see you in class on Monday." Ino said with a smile.

As Hinata grabbed her purse and headed back over to her car, Ino turned back around to send the rest of the group a frown. "Okay, what's really going on with Hinata?"

Sakura pouted as she remembered Hinata's words from earlier. "Err, I think I might know. She said she saw Naruto earlier, but I assumed she was just seeing things since she seemed a bit woozy."

"What?! You might have potentially ruined their chances of getting together!" Ino cried out.

"I didn't mean too! It's not like you helped any by bringing up all of Naruto's bad qualities beforehand!" Sakura countered back.

Tenten sighed and walked in between the two of them before their arguing got any worse. "I think the main point is that Hinata was probably telling you the truth Sakura."

Sakura and Ino gloomily nodded their heads. "Perhaps we should explain things to Naruto so he at least knows Hinata wasn't trying to avoid him on purpose." Sakura proposed.

"This is Naruto we're talking about though; will he even know that the girl he was talking to was Hinata?" Tenten asked.

"Probably not." Everyone said in unison as Ino let out groan. "Guys, fixing this is going to be harder than we thought it would be."

~**X**~

'_Oh, please be already asleep. I don't want any more problems to happen tonight…' _Hinata thought to herself, as she quietly slipped out of her car and headed back in through the back door of the manor.

Hinata had only taken a few steps in before a light switch was suddenly flicked on and she came face to face with her father.

"Care to explain why you're coming back into the house at 12:40 am?" Hiashi asked coldly.

Hinata felt her whole body go numb as she distantly saw down the hall Hanabi mouth a sorry to her while Neji feigned confusion.

"Well, are you going to just keep standing there foolishly or are you going explain yourself?!" Hiashi barked out.

"I-I was only hanging out with my friends for the night…" Hinata stuttered out.

Hiashi's eyes narrowed as he pointed back towards her cousin. "Why at this time of the day though? You're lucky nothing bad came out of you going to a party full of underage teenagers probably drinking or on drugs. It's a good thing Neji informed me you weren't in your room and of where you went off to."

Hinata's eyes widened at that piece of information. "But Neji was-"

"Neji was what?" Hiashi questioned with a scowl.

Hinata sent a brief glance towards Neji at why he had told on her, but he only looked away before their eyes could meet. '_I see now. He __**did **__see me at the party after all, but why did he race home to cause trouble for me when he was at the party too?' _

"Ah, um never mind." Hinata mumbled out.

Hiashi stared down at her for a moment longer before shaking his head. "I don't know where you got it into your head that it was okay to go sneaking out, even if it is the weekend. Trying to cover it up by using your sister and cousin is not how I raised you to be."

Hinata bowed her head in shame, silently waiting for the punishment he would give her.

"Well, I hope you got all the fun out of your system tonight because you're not allowed to leave the manor for the rest of the weekend. I'll make sure my assistant Hiroshi keeps his eye on you; do you understand?" Hiashi finally said.

Hinata raised her head slightly to nod. "Y-Yes Father."

Hiashi turned back around to face Neji and Hanabi. "As for you Hanabi, we'll discuss your punishment for playing a part in this in the morning."

Hanabi stiffened in fear, but warily nodded her head in agreement. Hinata watched as both Hiashi and Hanabi left for their rooms before casting Neji a hurt look.

"Why would you tell on me and get Hanabi in trouble too? I know you were at Sasuke's party as well." Hinata asked softly.

Neji shook his head with a sigh at Hinata's question. "I saw you with Naruto."

Hinata appeared confused for a second before she balled her fists in frustration. "What does that have to do with anything? Naruto has never done anything bad to you!"

"There are things you don't know about Naruto that could put you in danger Hinata. Doing what I did tonight was the best way I figured I could get it across to you that you should avoid him." Neji explained.

"And if I don't?" Hinata questioned back.

Neji frowned at the hardened look Hinata was giving him. "Then I guess you'll be ready to face the consequences for any future actions you do from now on.

~**X**~

'_What did Neji mean by that? I'm not going to stay away from Naruto simply because he wants me to, though I probably ruined any chances of us even being friends based on last night.' _Hinata thought with a sigh, as she idly watched a few leaves swirl outside her window. It was only mid-afternoon on Saturday and she had already run out of things to keep herself occupied.

'_It's such a nice day, but I'm stuck in here. I wonder if Naruto is outside maybe practicing shooting some shots.' _Hinata mused dreamily until she heard a knock on her door.

Hinata hesitated in opening it for a moment at the idea it could be Hiroshi coming to bug her again, but realized that the tapping noise that came afterwards was the characteristic one that only Hanabi used.

"What are you doing here? I don't want to get you in any more trouble because of me." Hinata questioned.

Hanabi shook her head, moving to sit down across from her on the floor. "Oh, don't worry about that; father only made me do extra laps around the house this morning."

Hinata pouted at the description of her punishment. "Ah, that seems like just a simple slap on the wrist compared to what I'm getting."

Hanabi only grinned in amusement at Hinata's sulking and picked up her sketchbook out of her lap. "It was worth it though, wasn't it? You finally got to talk to that guy you're always drawing, right?"

Hinata felt her face redden at Hanabi's joking and moved to grab the book back. "D-Don't look at my drawings! Besides, he still doesn't even know my name…"

"Wait, so you didn't talk to him then?" Hanabi asked.

"Err, I did sort of. I got sick from drinking some tainted punch and he helped me back to the house, but that's pretty much it." Hinata recalled.

Hanabi nodded her head and frowned. "You still can always talk to him at school; I'm sure you share a few classes together after all."

'Hinata silently agreed, gazing down at her sketchbook contently. '_The next time we meet, I promise I'll thank you Naruto.'_

~**X**~

Naruto groaned as a buzzing noise filled his room. Grudgingly, Naruto reached his hand out and tapped the alarm on his phone to snooze mode.

'_Not getting ready for school as usual, huh? And you wonder why those teachers are always whispering behind your back about how lazy you are…' _The fox chuckled.

"Now's not the time." Naruto grumbled out.

'_Oh, but it is; you can't get rid of me Naruto. I'm the only one who will ever actually care about you.' _The fox continued on.

"I said shut up!" Naruto hissed, sitting up slightly in his bed.

'_Why do you always try to ignore me? I'm only telling you the truth! After all, Jiraiya is the one whose always away on some job and even that girl you tried to help at the party ran off from you-'_The fox's chattering slowly went away as Naruto purposely covered his ears with his pillows tightly.

"You won't get to me today Kurama." Naruto whispered tiredly, finally pushing back his orange covers to get ready for school.

Asuma frowned when Naruto ultimately trudged into his class 10 minutes late, all the while sending him a lopsided grin.

"So, what excuse are you going to give me today Naruto?" He questioned.

Naruto laughed sleepily, taking his usual seat towards the back. "I set my alarm clock to snooze for too long."

Asuma shook his head, pointing his thumb back out the door. "I might be in a more forgiving mood if I had taken my typical smoke this morning, but I didn't. Head over to Principal Tsunade's office."

Naruto shrugged and got back up from his seat to do as he was told. Hinata frowned at how fatigued Naruto looked at his brief pass by her desk.

"Hinata, can you send this report down to the office? We need to get class going already." Asuma stated, already holding out the paperwork towards her.

Hinata shook off her startled expression and nodded her head to retrieve the papers with a small smile. A brief glance back towards her friends let her know they were silently cheering her on also.

'_Okay, this is another chance to talk to Naruto. Don't let your jitters get to you.' _Hinata reminded herself, heading down the hall and downstairs towards the Principal's office.

Once inside, Hinata was greeted by Tsunade's assistant Shizune. "Ah Hinata, what are you doing here? You're not having any issues with your grades or behavior, are you?

Hinata shook her head, handing over Asuma's paperwork. "Mr. Sarutobi wanted me to give you this report involving Naruto."

Shizune accepted the papers with a sigh. "Oh, he did just come in now that I think about it. When will he learn to stay out of trouble?"

Hinata opened her mouth to reply, but Naruto's loud voice had already begun to echo from behind Tsunade's closed door.

~**X**~

"Hey granny, how are you this morning?!" Naruto inquired cheerfully.

"First of all, stop referring to me as a granny; it implies that I'm old. Second of all, why are you in my office again Naruto?" Tsunade snapped out.

Naruto shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Mr. Sarutobi told me to come here after I was tardy for his class."

Tsunade rubbed her forehead in dismay at Naruto's answer. "Naruto, why does this keep happening week after week? Your relatively mediocre grades aren't helped by the fact you have constant issues with each of your teachers."

Naruto said nothing back to that, a part of his mind cynically drifting back to Kurama's words from earlier. Tsunade noticed Naruto's change in demeanor and sat up in her desk.

"Is…Is that fox still causing you problems?" She asked in a low tone.

Naruto froze for a moment at the question, but quickly put back on a jovial smile. "Sometimes he does, though it's nothing I can't handle!"

Tsunade huffed at the mask Naruto was using to hide his emotions and decided not to pressure him any more on the subject.

"Anyways, I'll have to send you to detention for at least part of the day. I can't have you causing any more distractions for the other students for the time being." Tsunade reasoned.

Naruto grinned, standing up from his seat. "That's sounds fine by me! I could use more time to sleep anyways."

'_Whether Naruto wants to admit or not, that fox is starting to become a constant hassle for him. He refuses to talk to anyone about him and he denies the need for any medications to help get rid of the voice. Perhaps I need to start looking at other alternatives…' _Tsunade pondered.

Tsunade stood up and reached out to pat Naruto's shoulder before he left. "Naruto, seriously start thinking about what I've been telling you time and again. This is your last year before you graduate from high school; I don't want to think you'll have to repeat your senior year."

Naruto shrugged her hand off and nodded his head wearily. "Yeah, I know already. Graduation isn't until May so I have plenty of time."

As Naruto walked out her office, he paused when he saw Hinata and Shizune watching him curiously.

'_This girl looks familiar. Where have I seen her before?' _Naruto wondered, gazing at Hinata in interest while Hinata felt her cheeks redden under his stare.

After a few seconds, Naruto appeared to recognize her and greeted her happily. "Hey, you're that girl from Sasuke's party; the one who was throwing up in the bushes! How are you feeling now?"

Hinata's face flushed even more at Naruto's loud declaration of that event. "Um, I-I'm feeling better now; thank you for your help. I'm sorry if it seemed like I ran off, my friends wanted me to take some pictures with them."

'_So she didn't run off from me after all. That's…that's actually quite a surprise.' _Naruto considered with a grin.

"Hey, it's no problem! By the way, I never did actually get your name, but I'm sure you know already that I'm the one and only Naruto Uzumaki though!" Naruto declared happily.

Hinata smiled gently, beginning to feel a little more relaxed. "And I'm Hinata Hyuga; it's nice to finally properly meet you Naruto."

Shizune cleared her throat to interrupt their conversation. "Naruto, shouldn't you be heading over to detention like I'm sure Tsunade asked you to do and not bothering Hinata? I wouldn't want one of Konoha High's top students to be influenced by you."

'_Hear that? She's already way out of your league. She probably knows exactly what she wants to do with her life while you're heading absolutely nowhere…' _Kurama taunted towards him internally.

Naruto chose to ignore him and continued to send Hinata a grin. "Hey, when I get out of detention we should try and hang out some more if you want!"

Shizune sent him a glare and Naruto huffed and finally headed over to the doors to leave. "Alright, alright, I'm going now."

Hinata watched him leave with a smile, internally cheering that she had at last had a normal conversation with him.

Meanwhile, Tsunade had watched the scene play out from within in her office and smirked as an idea came to here.

"Hinata, can I see you in my office for a moment?" Tsunade called out to her.

Hinata felt the smile drop from her face and turned to send Tsunade a baffled look. '_Oh no, I'm not trouble for staying in this office too long, am I?'_

Tsunade observed Hinata fidget at her uniform's plaid skirt nervously in her seat and shook her head. "Don't worry Hinata; you're not in trouble for anything."

Hinata let out a small sigh of relief at that and sat up straighter in her chair. "Oh, okay. Um, what did you call me in for then?"

Tsunade grinned, brushing away a hair away from her face. "You like Naruto, correct?"

Hinata blushed at the sudden question, but nodded her head slowly.

Tsunade's ginger colored eyes shined with mirth at that. "Perfect, then I'm sure you'll like the idea I have in mind for you then! Would you consider being a tutor towards Naruto for the rest of the semester?"

"Tutor?" Hinata asked, gaining a perplexed expression.

"Yes, I think what Naruto needs is someone who isn't going to judge him for his misbehaving and help keep him on the right path to graduation. All I want you do is mainly assist him in getting his schoolwork done on time and get him to stop fooling around so much." Tsunade explained. '_At least then, most of the teachers at this school will get off my back about him.' _

'_Wow, this is so unexpected.' _Hinata thought in awe.

Tsunade seemed to have read her thoughts, slowly twiddling her thumbs. "I know it's a lot to suddenly ask of you, but please say you'll accept it."

Hinata managed to weakly nod her head to approve of it, not sure if her voice was going to work if she tried to speak.

Tsunade beamed happily and pushed a wide array of folders off her desk. "Excellent, I'll start writing out the paperwork right now. I'll call you and Naruto back into my office at a later point in time to discuss it together to make sure he's okay with it too. In the meantime, you should head on back to class now."

Hinata faintly nodded her head again, her mind already starting to wander off to what the next few days had in store for her.

Shizune sent Tsunade a frown once she knew Hinata was out of earshot. "Tsunade, do you really think this plan of yours is such a good idea?"

Tsunade let out a scoff at Shizune's worried look. "I see no harm coming out of it. What, do you have any better ideas for dealing with Naruto?"

Shizune shook her head with a sigh. "No, I don't. I'm just concerned about the possibility of Naruto hurting her if he wasn't in his right mind."

Tsunade only waved her off, opening her file cabinets to search for something. "We'll worry about those matters if that becomes an issue. Naruto is a good person and I think he has enough control over himself that he wouldn't hurt her. For now, I saw we celebrate that this tutor idea could actually work! Shizune, where did you put my bottle of Sake?"

Shizune rubbed her eyes in annoyance at Tsunade's calm attitude towards the topic. "Tsunade, you do realize it's only a little past 10 am, right?"

Tsunade only shrugged, still looking for the liquor bottle. "You know that's never stopped me before."

~x~ _**Chapter 2 Ends Happy Holidays Everyone! **_


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays! Thanks for all the feedback, let me know if you have any suggestions.

**Chapter 3: Tempted with Trouble **

"What are you in here for this time Naruto?" Kakashi asked, barely looking up from his Icha Icha Paradise book as he watched him walk into the room.

"Oh just the usual, I was tardy to Mr. Sarutobi's class. I see you're still into my old man's books." Naruto stated, taking a seat in usual detention spot.

Kakashi yawned, leaning back slightly in his chair. "I have to do something to pass the time while I have detention duty this week."

Kakashi watched as Naruto rested his head against his desk before letting out a small sigh. "Typically, I would let you sleep, but Shizune gave me a warning last week about letting students slack off in here. Don't you have any assignments you could be working on maybe?"

Naruto shrugged, barely opening his blue eyes. "Since when do you ever listen to what she says?"

"I know you think she's just being on hard on you, but she's only trying to help. Getting this many detentions in only a few weeks could get you suspended from the basketball team or worse, kicked off of it." Kakashi reminded him.

'_Wow, it seems like everyone really is out to cause trouble for you over something or think you'll screw things up.' _Kurama sneered out, though Naruto internally shook his head in disagreement.

'_Not everyone, that girl…Hinata Hyuga, she didn't give me the same looks other girls have given me in the past. I think I could get along well with her.' _Naruto argued back.

'_Are you still thinking you have a chance with her? Heh, once she finds out about me and the rest of your past though, you'll see she's just like the rest of those girls.' _Kurama said with a chuckle before disappearing.

Naruto cursed under his breathe. He hated to admit that the fox made a good point; he still knew too little about Hinata to make any hopeful assumptions about her.

Naruto looked back up and noticed Kakashi was still gazing at him dully, waiting for him to start working on some schoolwork.

"Fine, I'll start doing a bit of my Algebra homework." Naruto grumbled, pulling out a sheet of notebook paper from his tattered orange backpack.

Kakashi silently nodded his head, returning back to his book while Naruto wrote down some equations and formulas.

A few minutes later, Naruto raised his hand to get Kakashi's attention. Kakashi sighed and bookmarked the page he was on before heading over to Naruto's desk.

"What is it now Naruto? It's been a while since I've done any high school math, so I'm not sure how much I can help you." Kakashi muttered.

Naruto shook his head, deep in thought over something. "My question doesn't concern that, but it is something that has been bothering me for a while, actually since freshman year."

Kakashi arched an eyebrow over Naruto's serious expression. "Alright, what is it then?"

Naruto turned to face him, still holding his stern look. "Why is it that you always wear a mask to cover your face? Is there some embarrassing birthmark on your face you don't want others to see?"

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Naruto gained his usual silly grin. "Get back to work Naruto."

~**X**~

Hinata was still on cloud nine by the time she returned back to class, a look that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of her friends.

As Hinata returned back to her seat, she saw that there was a neatly folded paper on top of her desk with her name written on it in purple marker. Hinata waited until Asuma wasn't looking in her direction before she quickly unfolded the note.

"What took you so long to come back? We were beginning to think that Naruto whisked you off into one of the bathroom stalls; we want all the details on what happened while you were in that office!" -_**Sakura**_

Hinata felt her face heat up at Sakura's innuendo and turned to send her a pout before she hurriedly wrote a message back.

"Nothing like that happened! Though Principal Tsunade did ask me if I could help Naruto stay on the right path to graduation."

Sakura beamed as she read over the message and was about to scribble something down until Asuma made an abrupt announcement.

"I hope _**everyone**_ is paying attention to the things I'm saying because I would hate for any of you to fail the pop quiz I could assign…" He stated, glancing directly in Sakura and Hinata's direction.

Sakura felt an uncomfortable shiver go down her spine at the look and briefly sent Hinata a glance that they would finish the rest of the conversation later on at lunch.

"So Hinata, don't skip out on any details! I've been waiting through 3 periods of class to find out what happened while you were away." Ino stated, leaning in from across the table to hear her speak.

Hinata laughed lightly and shook her head at Ino's antics. "Ino, I already told you in 2nd period that nothing went on between Naruto and I. Principle Tsunade only suggested that we meet at a later point to discuss helping Naruto's grades and behavior improve."

Ino sighed and moved to sit properly back in her seat. "Ah, that was your chance to really try seducing him Hinata! Imagine the look that would have come onto Naruto's face!"

"Doesn't the old saying go that it's always the quiet ones you have to look out for?!" Sakura continued on, causing both Ino and her to laugh.

Hinata blushed under their teasing grins and snickers. "G-Guys you know I'm not that type of girl!"

"Hey, you should go to Naruto's upcoming basketball game on Thursday Hinata! That's a great way for you two to get to know each other better before you possibly meet with Tsunade again. Or perhaps we could even have a sleepover to plan out stuff you could do together." Ino suggested excitedly.

'_Ah, I don't have the heart to tell them right now that I probably won't be able to go to any of Naruto's games or attend a sleepover for a while after the trouble I got into with father for going to that party. At least not without Hiroshi or another one of his assistants watching my every move…' _Hinata mused.

As Sakura and Ino continued to laugh and plan out ideas, Hinata sent Tenten a curious look when she noticed she was absentmindedly stirring at her milk.

"Is something wrong Tenten? You have a distant look on your face." Hinata questioned.

"Hmm, oh I'm alright! Just have a lot on my mind." Tenten replied back, snapping out of her thoughts.

Sakura finished off her salad and frowned. "Hinata's right; you've been quiet for the majority of lunch. You're not worried about your upcoming martial arts match, are you?"

Tenten scoffed and shook her head. "Of course not, I've been training for that match for weeks! My other group members say I might be in for a tough time though because my opponent is supposed to be this girl named Temari."

Ino nearly spat out her drink at the mention of that name. "Whoa, wait a minute! You don't mean the same Temari from Suna high, do you?"

Tenten shrugged, not sure why Ino was overreacting. "Yeah I guess so, why?"

"I've overheard from her conversations with Shikamaru that she can beat her opponents in around 5 to 10 minutes without even breaking a sweat." Ino replied back.

Sakura narrowed her eyes as Ino finished her description. "Um, why were you listening in on their conversations in the first place?"

"Uh…no reason! Don't give me that look Sakura; it's not what you think!" Ino retorted back with a blush.

Hinata watched the pair with a smile, but frowned at Tenten's fixed solemn expression. "Are you sure you're okay Tenten?"

Tenten nodded her head, feeling a twinge of ache at Hinata's concerned look. '_Truth be told, it's not the match that only has me stressed it out, it's what Neji asked me to do to try to stop Naruto and Hinata from getting closer…'_

~**X**~

Naruto had been practicing some free throws when he felt someone slap against his back.

"I heard you got in trouble again with Mr. Sarutobi, what did you do this time to get on his bad side?" Kiba asked him with a chuckle.

Naruto shook his head with a smile. "Slept late and then ended up with a detention as usual."

"You should have offered him a cigarette as a bribe to get him off your back." Kiba stated, causing them both to start laughing.

"I wouldn't laugh about it Naruto; your idiotic behavior could get you kicked off this team one day." Sasuke said from across the court.

Naruto shot him a look of scorn before brushing it off and continuing his free throws until Gai blew his whistle to gather them all together on the side.

"Alright now that I have everyone's attention I can make my announcement. As I'm sure all of you already know, this coming up Thursday we're going to be facing our rival school of Suna High! Put all of the hard work and training you guys have been doing these past few weeks into truly showing them the power of your youth!" Gai cried out happily.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and stood up to get back to training. Just as Naruto turned around to leave though, Gai signaled him over with a wave.

"Before you get back to practice, you should know that Principal Tsunade sent me a message saying she wants to have a quick meeting with you in her office."

"What?! I was already there this morning though!" Naruto questioned.

'_And to think you thought your so called 'granny Tsunade' wasn't such a bad person. This goes to show that she'll even cause problems and trouble for you when you haven't done anything. This is why you should put your trust in me…' _Kurama muttered distantly in back of his head.

"Don't take your attitude out on me; simply go see what she wants and be back here before practice ends." Gai stated, already glancing back towards the court to watch the other players.

Naruto grumbled a few swears faintly under his breathe and grudgingly left the gymnasium to head towards the office.

Naruto paused in his stroll towards the office when he saw Hinata already walking towards the door from the opposite direction.

"Hold on Hinata, what are you doing here? Did Tsunade call you down to her office too?" Naruto asked, stopping her from opening the door.

Hinata blinked in surprise at Naruto's sudden presence, but nodded her head with a smile.

"Yes, it's not for anything bad though." '_I'm assuming since Naruto is here that Principal Tsunade got all the paperwork done already.'_

Naruto cocked his head in confusion before shrugging. "If you say so."

Once Shizune informed Tsunade that Naruto and Hinata had arrived, she allowed the both of them into her office.

Tsunade pushed some folders out of the way and smiled. "I'm glad you two got here so quickly. We can get this meeting over with faster."

Naruto slouched in his seat with a scowl. "Good, I was in the middle of basketball practice you know."

"It would help you to have a little patience Naruto! Anyways, I called you both in again today because Hinata here has agreed to be your tutor and I was wondering if you would agree to her help." Tsunade stated.

Naruto arched an eyebrow at that and casted a side glance towards Hinata who blushed uncomfortably. '_It seems like Naruto may be against this idea after all…'_

"Why would you want to help me Hinata? Granny here didn't pay you to do this, did she?" Naruto whispered to her.

Hinata quickly shook her head. "N-No, it's not like that! I just wanted to help you with your weaker subjects so that you could graduate on time."

Naruto still remained skeptical, Kurama internally sending him snide comments and reminding him of what happened the last times he had put his trust in others.

Tsunade let out a sigh at Naruto's behavior. She should have expected that Naruto would be wary of agreeing to this.

"…I guess if you really want to help me Hinata, then I'll accept it! Though I'm not sure how much you can help someone like me improve." Naruto eventually said with a chuckle, tuning out Kurama's yells of disagreement.

Hinata nodded her head with a blush, happy and a bit relieved Naruto had accepted her assistance. Tsunade beamed in approval and cleared her throat to get their attention once more.

"I'm glad you agree to this idea Naruto. I've met with your professors already and they have suggested that you and Hinata meet at least once a week for an hour or two to go over work assigned and study. Does that sound okay with you?"

Naruto placed his head in his palm in boredom. "It doesn't seem like you're giving me much of a choice."

Tsunade resisted the urge to snap at Naruto and stood up to retrieve a paper from a file cabinet nearby. "Well then, the both of you need to sign at the bottom of this form that you understand the terms of this agreement."

Naruto frowned and cautiously signed his named before passing it over to Hinata who signed her name as well. Tsunade carefully looked over their signatures and then nodded her head.

"Alright, you two are free to go for now. I'll still be checking on you Naruto from time to time though." Tsunade said, watching as the pair left her office.

'_I really hope this plan works…I'm trying my best to help you Naruto, but it's pointless if you don't make the effort too.' _Tsunade thought.

Outside the office, Naruto scratched his head warily as he tried to think of something to say to Hinata.

"Err; I'm not sure if I'll be able to meet this week since we have the big game coming up on Thursday. Though I'll be free after that on the weekend if that's okay with you?"

Hinata smiled gently and nodded her head. "That's fine Naruto; um, maybe we should exchange numbers to keep in contact?"

Naruto relaxed slightly and grinned in compliance, pulling out his phone from his pocket. "Hey, if you have the time you should come out to support the game! We're facing our rival school this week in basically every sport."

Hinata felt her face flush at the offer, thinking back to the earlier conversation she had with her friends about taking chances.

"I-I'll be there." Hinata said happily without a second thought.

Naruto's grin widened even more at that. "Great, I'll see you then!"

Hinata nodded her head dreamily, waving as Naruto returned back to the gym. It wasn't until she was about half way in her walk back to her own class that she realized going to the game after school would mean she would need to tell her father where she was going to be, and that was if he even agreed to it.

~**X**~

'_Alright, today is Tuesday night; this is probably the only opportunity I'll get to really talk to father before Thursday comes…' _Hinata told herself, quietly eating her dinner beside Hanabi.

"You've been awfully silent tonight Hinata, how are things going with your classes?" Hiashi asked.

Hinata nervously looked up to meet her Father's gaze. "F-Fine, I haven't had any problems so far."

Hiashi narrowed his eyes at her short answer. "There isn't anything else you need to tell me, is there?"

Hinata squirmed uncomfortably under his harsh stare. It was for the best that she plainly told him what was on her mind or else he would continue to pressure her.

"Um, I was just wondering if it would be okay for me to attend a basketball game on Thursday at 6 pm. The game would only last around 2 hours perhaps." Hinata muttered out hastily.

Hiashi said nothing for a few seconds, calmly sipping at his water until he finally let out a sigh. "I suppose I can allow it on the condition that Neji comes along with you."

'_Of course he would ask Neji to be his spy; he still doesn't trust me….' _Hinata perceived, before nodding her head in acceptance.

The rest of the dinner and into Wednesday went by slowly. Nothing really breaking her from her daily musings until her walk home Wednesday evening with Sakura and Ino where she learned that Tenten's match had gone horribly with Temari; to the point that she would need to stay a few days at the Konoha's main hospital.

"I can't believe Tenten loss her match; I can't even remember the last time that happened!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Not only that, but Temari didn't even seem to care how badly she injured her! We should get revenge for her." Ino hissed out.

Hinata shook her head, patting Ino's shoulders to calm her down. "Revenge isn't the best way to go about it. That could only end up getting you suspended or even expelled."

Sakura huffed angrily, but nodded her head in agreement. "At least that's only one sport I know of right now that we've lost to Suna High against. We still have the basketball game tomorrow that we can still kick their asses in!"

"Speaking of which, are you going to the game Hinata? I'm sure Naruto would be happy if he saw you there." Ino teased.

Hinata felt her cheeks redden, but nodded her head with a smile. '_I'm not going to break the promise I made him.'_

Sakura and Ino smirked at Hinata's grin. "Seems like things are moving fast between the two of you, I heard Sasuke even mention you're going to tutor Naruto or something?"

"Oh yeah, but it's only for an hour or two each week." Hinata explained.

"Private tutoring sessions, huh? Make sure you two remember to stay on topic!" Ino said with sly smile, watching as Hinata's face flustered even more.

~**X**~

"Konoha High scores another point! That brings the score up to a tie of 46-46! We still have five minutes to go on the clock before this game possibly goes into overtime!" The sports commentator announced over the intercom.

Hinata watched as Sakura loudly cheered for Sasuke from behind her, holding up a banner with his name on it. A part of her wanted to cheer for Naruto in the same manner, but her shyness and Neji's presence beside her made her think twice of doing anything.

Hinata gave a brief glance over towards Neji and frowned when she saw he was fiddling with his phone, only glancing up to actually stare at the game every once in a while.

'_Geez, he could at least attempt to show some support, but then again the only reason he is here in the first place is because father asked him to come along…' _Hinata reasoned.

Not even a few minutes later, Neji's phone went off and he silently stood up to answer it.

"I'll be right back." He grumbled out, turning to head down the stairs.

Hinata observed him leave for a moment, wondering if it was father who called him before quietly following after him.

Outside the gym, Hinata could faintly make out that Neji was in the middle of FaceTime with someone.

"What took you so long to pick up? You weren't in the middle of doing something important, were you?" A voice asked him.

'_That voice…it must be Tenten who he's talking to.' _Hinata speculated, keeping herself hidden behind a vending machine.

Neji shook his head, letting out a small sigh. "No, I was just watching the basketball game with Hinata. How are you feeling?"

Tenten chuckled at that before smiling lightly. "You don't even like basketball so I can imagine you haven't even been watching the game and I'm feeling better; still a bit sore, but nothing I can't handle."

"That's good to hear. Anyways, have you talked to Hinata regarding Naruto? Surely you've found out some information by now."

Tenten said nothing for a moment, her smile quickly contorting into a scowl. "You know I haven't! Listen, Hinata is almost 18 now; neither you nor her dad can tell her who she can or can't date. Hinata's one of my best friends and I'm not going to demand her to tell me why she likes Naruto or pressure who to find another guy to like!"

Neji scowled, rubbing his head in frustration. "Tenten, if you were really Hinata's best friend you would prevent her from getting involved with someone who could cause her emotional and physical pain."

Tenten rolled her eyes at the statement. "Let Hinata make her own mistakes if that even does happen."

'_So that's why Tenten was acting so strangely a few days ago. Neji and father are taking this way too far trying to involve my friends now! Do they really have that little trust in Naruto and even me?' _Hinata pondered bitterly.

Hinata quietly walked back towards the gym and sulked even more when she realized the game was already over with Konoha winning 52-50.

'_Well at least we won the game, that's good.' _Hinata mused with a smile, taking in the cheers and hollers of excitement filling the court.

Hinata moved to head back to the stands where Sakura and Ino still were, but stopped when she heard her phone vibrate in her pocket.

_**Hey Hinata, I'm going out for ramen to celebrate the big win! Do you want to come? –Naruto**_

Hinata glanced towards the center of the court and saw Naruto sending her a wide grin, his blue eyes shining with enthusiasm.

'_If I go, I'll only create more problems for myself. Still though, I can't keep living my life trying to endlessly please two people in vain.' _Hinata debated.

Eventually, Hinata typed a response back and sent Naruto a shy smile with a nod.

_**Yes, I would to go. –Hinata**_

~x~ _**Chapter 3 End**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Unwavering Feelings **

**Guest: **Sure, I'll add in little SasuSaku moments along with other couples as the story progresses.

'_I've made my decision to go, so why do I still feel nervous?' _Hinata questioned herself, trying to ignore the familiar butterflies that came with being close to Naruto. As soon as Naruto had finished taking a quick shower and changing into casual wear, the two had headed off for the restaurant.

"Are you alright Hinata? You still want to come, right?" Naruto asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

Hinata nodded her head, turning to send him a small smile. "O-Of course; thanks for inviting me along!"

Naruto shook his head, grinning as he put his hands behind his back. "It's no problem, you'll love this place! Ichiraku Ramen serves the best ramen in whole city!"

'_Maybe I feel this restless because it actually seems like a date! This will be the first time Naruto and I will be alone together…' _Hinata realized.

"Naruto, what day would be good for us to actually start the tutoring sessions?" Hinata asked, trying to break the silence.

Naruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully before shrugging. "Um, any day is fine with me really! How about Sunday? That's usually when I finally stop procrastinating and try to do all my work."

Hinata chuckled softly, that would be one of the first things they would need to try to change.

The closer they got to the stand, the louder the sounds of whooping and hollering filled the air. Hinata blinked in confusion as she recognized various students from school along with members of the basketball team crowded around the area.

"Wow, everyone got here fast! Come on Hinata, I'll help you order something off the menu!" Naruto exclaimed, grabbing Hinata by the hand to take her to two open seats.

'_Ah, so this is just a friendly get together…I guess I was a bit too eager in thinking Naruto was asking me out.' _Hinata mused with a sigh.

Naruto passed her a menu for her to look over while sending Teuchi a nod and grin to make his usual order.

"Seems like you guys won another big game, huh? Oh, and I see you brought your girlfriend along too!" Ayame announced happily, returning with Naruto's miso ramen a few minutes later.

Hinata felt her cheeks redden at the assumption, but Naruto spoke up before she could get any words out.

"Oh, this is Hinata Hyuga; she's a friend from school who will be helping me out with my homework and stuff. You'll probably be seeing her around more often now." Naruto stated with a grin.

Hinata flushed at the introduction; Naruto hadn't really denied Ayame's guess by answering it that way, but she quickly shook it off and greeted Teuchi and Ayame with a smile before ordering some pork ramen for herself.

"Hey Hinata, you came out to celebrate too!" Sakura called out to her from across the booth with Sasuke sitting to her right.

"Sakura, how did you manage to get Sasuke to come along?" Naruto asked in between slurps of his noodles happily.

Sakura scowled for a moment at Naruto's disgusting table manners before gaining back a grin. "Sasuke's a member of the basketball team too; it shouldn't be that weird that he's here."

Sasuke turned to send Sakura a side glare. "I didn't want to come here though; you know I never attend these outings."

Sakura only met his glare with a smirk. "Oh relax, it's not like you had anything important to do when you got home. Besides, I'm going to make it worth your time…"

To Naruto and Hinata's surprise; Sasuke grinned slightly and nodded his head to whatever Sakura had whispered into his ear.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Hinata questioned softly.

Naruto finished gulping down the remaining broth in his bowl before shaking his head. "I'm not sure we want to find out to be honest."

~**X**~

"Was it really worth it to go out again against uncle's wishes?" Neji had questioned her, once he saw Hinata approaching back to the school grounds.

'_Yes and I would probably do it again if the chance ever arose.' _Hinata thought, but wisely kept it to herself.

"I'm sorry all I sent you was a short text message telling you where I was at; I just went down to the ramen stand to celebrate with the others." Hinata eventually spoke up.

Neji scowled and shook his head angrily. "That's not the point! I was only gone for around 5 minutes to answer a call and you used it as an opportunity to run off again."

Hinata bit her lip in frustration. Neji's tone was not only quickly growing hostile, but he was treating her like a child. "Just like how you used Tenten as an option to try and stop me from hanging out with Naruto?"

Neji paused in his retort as he realized what Hinata had said. "Wait…you were listening in on our conversation?"

Hinata nodded her head, moving to walk ahead of him back to manor. "It…It wasn't on purpose. I thought you were talking to father about every little thing I was doing."

Neji walked a bit faster to catch up with her and sighed. "That doesn't make it any better; you realize though that I'll still have to tell him what you did, right?"

Hinata immediately stopped walking and turned to send Neji a mix of a frown and a glare. "Why do you hate Naruto so much? You haven't even given me a proper explanation on why I should even avoid him in the first place!"

Neji said nothing back for a moment, solidifying Hinata's assumption that he disliked Naruto for no reason at all until he quietly muttered something.

"I'll admit that Naruto is a friendly and helpful guy, but there's a reason why nobody ever tries to get on his bad side." Neji stated.

Hinata slowly nodded her head, not sure where he was going with this. "Naruto can have episodes of paranoia when he's not in his right mind. It would be dangerous for you to be around him when such an episode occurs." Neji finished.

"How exactly do you know all this?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Way back in middle school when Naruto was bullied more by others, I triggered his anger myself by taunting him on all the things that made him uncomfortable; from his grades to his lack of a proper family. As soon as I had mentioned his family though, he grabbed me by the throat and I swear I saw a flash of red in his eyes before a teacher broke us up." Neji stated.

'_You made him mad on purpose though. Of course he wasn't going to sit there and let you keep making fun of him…' _Hinata silently pondered.

"Anyways, my point is that any small thing could set him off again; including something you may think is harmless. I'm not sure what punishment Hiashi is probably going to give you this time, but I'm starting to think it needs to be more serious if you continue to hang out with Naruto." Neji explained, starting to walk again back to the manor.

Hinata felt a painful lump settle in her chest at Neji's words. The relatively cool night now felt humid under the thick tension in the air. The tutoring session she had planned to have with Naruto on Sunday would either have to be cancelled now or kept a secret under the guise of more lies.

"Naruto isn't a bad person and I'll find a way to show that to you." Hinata mumbled to herself before warily following him inside.

~**X**~

"So from what Neji has told me, you disobeyed orders once again to follow your own silly desires?" Hiashi demanded out of her.

Hinata shook her head, her throat feeling dry under the furious glare he was sending her. "N-No, that's not it at all."

"Then explain yourself! Or are you trying to tell me that Neji is lying?" Hiashi snapped out.

Hinata shook her head again, furthering Hiashi's impatience and anger. "I can see now that you're letting too many distractions get in the way of your studies. If I can't even trust you to attend some mere game without wandering off somewhere, then I don't believe you even need to be a part of any after school activities."

Hinata's eyes widened as she realized what he meant. "W-Wait father, y-you don't mean that I must quit…"

"Yes, you no longer need to be a part of that Art club that you attend every other week. You've already been in plenty of other extracurricular activities throughout the years that will make your resume look good enough to the colleges you're applying to." Hiashi finished for her.

'_Drawing is the only special interest that I have that I believe I'm good at. Without the art club, I don't have any place I can use as a temporary means to be away from home for a bit longer…' _Hinata thought dejectedly.

"You've really been testing your limits lately Hinata. Do I really need to get one of my assistants to track you all the time or come up with a harsher form of punishment?"

"N-No father, I understand." Hinata mumbled out, hastily heading to her room before he could say anything more.

Hinata headed straight for her bed as soon as she reached her room, snuggling into the soft pillows and letting out a shuddering exhale she had been holding in. The only sounds she heard in the ensuing minutes that passed was the faint sound of her desktop clock ticking by slowly against the rapid beating of her heart.

Hiashi had already briefly threatened her with an array of harsher punishments over the years, but Hinata couldn't be too sure on whether or not he even remembered them or would enforce them. It seemed he had already silently made his decision to train and focus on Hanabi as the next head of the Hyuga corporations instead of her; perhaps he really did think all she was good at doing was her schoolwork.

'_Is there any way I could show or tell father that I'm just trying to be a bit more independent in my own manner? _Hinata asked herself with a frown, already knowing she couldn't give herself a proper answer.

Hinata silently moved off her bed to change into her violet pajamas and gaze over her sketchbook again. If Naruto could still somehow find a reason to smile with all the pain he had experienced, then surely she could too.

~**X**~

"I don't think your father can just force you to quit anything. Why has he been on your case so much lately?" Sakura questioned her during a 5 minute break Ms. Yuhi had given them during English.

Hinata sighed sadly, sinking into her seat. "He thinks ever since I went to Sasuke's party that I've turned into this rebellious girl that's going to ruin her life. I know he thinks he's trying to do what's best for me, but it's only destroying what's left of our already weak relationship."

Sakura nodded her head, calmly empathizing with Hinata's problems. "It's probably a good thing you didn't tell him then about the agreement you made about helping Naruto."

"I'm not sure how I'll even be able to meet with Naruto now based on what happened last night. I suppose we could always keep to meeting here at the school's library, but the only time we get an hour for anything is to eat lunch." Hinata speculated.

"Well, you can always use technology to talk to him too, though knowing Naruto; it would more than likely need to be explained to him in person for him to understand it." Sakura reasoned.

Hinata laughed lightly at that, feeling a little better. If she remembered correctly, Naruto was now in science class with Mr. Umino.

"Hey Sasuke, pass me that beaker to your left." Naruto said, casually stirring a chemical together.

"You better know exactly what you're mixing." Sasuke grumbled out, sliding the beaker over to him.

Naruto nodded his head with a scowl, observing as the solution became a darkish red color. "So, now that you met Hinata in person; you know that's she's a girl I didn't just randomly make up back at the party."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, still appearing disinterested. "What's your point? I'm not giving you back your 50 dollars."

"I assumed you weren't going to, but I was actually thinking that maybe once I get to know her better that you could invite Sakura and I could invite Hinata out for a double date-"

"Sakura and I aren't dating and you barely know Hinata." Sasuke flatly cut him off.

'_Finally, if I can't talk some sense into you at least he will…' _Kurama muttered to him.

"That's why I said WHEN I get to know her better geez…and you denied your current status with Sakura awfully fast." Naruto muttered out.

Sasuke shook his head, carefully keeping his own beaker away from the edge of the table. "Isn't she only tutoring you because Principal Tsunade asked her to?"

Naruto shot him a dirty look before sulking slightly. '_Hinata told me she wanted to help me improve my grades and yet people are still trying to make me think she has ill intentions...'_

'_That's because you're too quick in trusting people. You're letting your pent up loneliness and naivety cloud your judgment based on the fact one girl actually seems to be taking an interest in you for once. I guess you just want to find out things the hard way though that everyone will always think of you as the outcast.' _Kurama said bitingly.

Naruto pushed Kurama's words away, vigorously stirring at his solution to distract himself until Iruka walked around to their table.

"Naruto, are you alright? If you stir the solution too much it will end up-"Iruka trailed off when Naruto let out a yelp as the red fluid spilled over onto the table.

"Bubbling over." Iruka finished with a sigh before moving to help Naruto clean up the mess.

"You're lucky this wasn't a strong chemical we were mixing or you could have seriously gotten burned." Iruka scolded him.

Naruto said nothing back, staring down at the remnants of the liquid angrily. '_It's red, just like him…'_

Iruka frowned at Naruto's lack of response and moved to pat him on his back to gain back his attention. "Maybe should cool down the rest of the day at your home. I'll let the rest of your professors know."

Naruto was about to retort that he was fine until he saw the rest of his classmates eyeing him suspiciously, not sure if he was about to pull a prank possibly or if it had just been an honest mistake.

"Yeah, okay; I can see I'm not wanted here really anyways." Naruto grumbled out, removing his goggles and gloves.

~**X**~

Naruto nearly thought someone had broken into his apartment when he heard the distinct sound of someone walking around until he saw a brief glimpse of Jiraiya's spiky white hair.

"What are you doing here? It's only 1:30 pm; shouldn't you be in school right now?" Jiraiya questioned, walking into the living room when he heard the front door open.

Naruto tossed his backpack onto the couch and lazily trudged to his room. "I could ask you the same thing; weren't you supposed to be away on a business trip for two more weeks?"

Jiraiya looked confused for a moment before the memory came back to him. "Oh, that? I finished my work in Cloud Village a few days after I first got there! I was just checking out the scenery the rest of the time."

"Heh, don't you mean you were being your usual perverted self by peeking and hitting on women for the remaining days?" Naruto mused.

Jiraiya refrained from making a snappy remark back to that and watched as Naruto went around his room picking up his dirty clothes and throwing away old items. '_What's with him? It's not like him to suddenly want to be so organized.'_

"So, why are you home early really; did you get into another argument with Tsunade or something?" Jiraiya questioned.

Naruto shook his head, hanging up some of his clothes before turning around to face him. "Iruka didn't want my anger getting the best of me so he told me to head home."

Jiraiya nodded his head slowly, silently assuming it must have something to do with Kurama. "I see, and you're cleaning up your room because…?"

Naruto glowered at the numerous questions he was being asked. "I can't clean my room?"

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow at that, stepping inside his room to search around. After a few minutes of roaming, Jiraiya let out a sigh. "Damn, I guess I thought wrong."

Naruto cocked his in puzzlement. "Uh, what the heck are you talking about?"

Jiraiya only shook his head, leaning back against his doorframe. "I thought for sure you were hiding a girl in here! What other reason would you have to suddenly want to tidy up your room?"

Naruto tossed one of his dirty shirts straight at his face. "I'm not a pervert like you! Besides, you got here before me and would probably have heard somebody in my room."

Jiraiya threw the shirt off him in disgust, but abruptly gained a silly grin. "Hey Naruto, you can tell me if you're seeing someone though!"

Naruto briefly thought of Hinata for a moment before diverting his attention back to his room. "Alright, it's possible a girl from school MAY be coming here on Sunday and I just don't want my room to look like crap, okay?" '_We never did actually decide where we were going to meet though, but I hope it's not my place…'_

Jiraiya's grin broadened even more at that news. "Oh, really?! What's this girl's name, huh?"

Naruto rolled his eyes with a groan. "Hinata Hyuga."

"Hmm, a Hyuga; they've built up a reputation around the city for their family run businesses that control a variety of engineering and medical companies. I'm surprised their daughter doesn't go to a private school with how secluded their known to be." Jiraiya mused.

Naruto frowned at hearing that. He knew Hinata had a strict lifestyle back at home, telling by how nervous she got whenever anyone brought up her father, but he didn't realize how much pressure was on her if she was next in line to run one of those companies or be the head of all of them.

"So, just how far have you gotten with this Hyuga girl; third base, right?!" Jiraiya asked excitedly with a lecherous smirk.

Naruto shook his head rapidly, feeling his cheeks flush slightly. "I've only had a few conversations with her!"

Jiraiya pouted at that, but quickly got back his typical wicked grin. "Well at least that gives me time to teach you all the tricks I know about women."

~**X**~

Hinata gazed down at her phone anxiously. It was already the late evening hours of Saturday and she was sure Naruto was going to either call or text her soon to ask what time they should meet at.

Hinata nervously peeked out of her room for any signs of Neji or Hiashi and nearly jumped in fright when she saw Hanabi coming down the hall.

"What's got you on edge; did you think I was father or Neji?" Hanabi asked with a laugh.

Hinata nodded her head, giving one last look around the hall before letting Hanabi in her room. "I been on my toes all weekend trying to not to get on their bad sides."

"Were you planning to go out this weekend with that Naruto guy?" Hanabi guessed, smirking when Hinata began to blush and look down.

"N-No, I was planning to help tutor him in some classes tomorrow, but I may need to call it off until things cool down here…" Hinata muttered out. '_I don't want to let him down with such a poor excuse though.'_

Hanabi silently pondered over options Hinata could go with and brightened as an idea came to her. "Maybe you won't need to cancel plans with him after all."

"What do you mean?" Hinata inquired, gazing back up at her.

Hanabi beamed and pointed towards Hinata's desk proudly. "Invite him here."

Hinata's face flushed even more as she rapidly shook her head. "W-What?! That's a terrible idea! Neji already dislikes him and who knows what father will say!"

"You need to turn the tables on Neji and father somehow! Right now they assume that you're being disobedient and turning into a delinquent on purpose. You need to at least let father meet Naruto so he knows who you've been spending time with and that you're determined to help Naruto improve himself." Hanabi argued. '_Not only that, but Hinata seems to get braver the more she talks to this guy.'_

'_She makes a good point, but father would never approve of Naruto. Still though, this is a way for me to bypass the restrictions he's been putting on me in terms of leaving the house…' _Hinata pondered.

"It's a good idea, huh? I'm actually curious to meet this Naruto person too." Hanabi continued on with a smile.

Hinata glanced down at her phone hesitantly, taking a deep breathe in before she dialed Naruto's number. A couple of seconds passed before she heard a sleepy hello.

"A-Ah, sorry to wake you up Naruto, but I came up with a place we could meet at for tomorrow." Hinata stated, wincing at how nervous she sounded.

Hinata could hear the sound of Naruto shuffling out of his bed as he let out a yawn into the receiver. "Oh, that's great! What place did you have in mind?"

"U-Um, would coming to my house be okay?" Hinata suggested lightly.

~**Chapter 4 Ends! ~ Let me know your thoughts **


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **Thanks for all the feedback; I appreciate and enjoy hearing back from you all!

**Guest: **I figure Kurama more as a separate entity within Naruto then as a split personality based on how I want the story to go. Don't worry; Hiashi won't delve into abuse. He'll still be keeping his stern attitude for a while until he finally starts to mellow out. ;-)

**Chapter 5: Romantic Rhapsody**

It took Naruto's brain a few seconds to process what Hinata had said before it clicked in his head.

She wanted him to come to her house for tutoring sessions.

Tomorrow.

"U-Um are you still there Naruto?" Hinata asked faintly into the receiver, causing Naruto to snap out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm still here; are you sure that's a good idea though?" Naruto questioned.

Hinata paused in responded back, glancing towards Hanabi who nodded her head in reassurance. "Yes, I'm sure. Would around 1 or 2 o clock be okay with you?"

"Err, sure! I'll even try and remember to bring my textbooks and stuff too." Naruto said cheerily, trying to keep the doubt and worry out of his voice.

As soon as Naruto ended his call, his door was immediately busted in by Jiraiya. "Aha, I knew it! You were just trying to fool me earlier by saying you weren't in a relationship with that Hyuga girl!"

Naruto growled at the intrusion and got up off his bed. "No I wasn't! It's going to be a tutoring session _**only**_ like I told you earlier!"

"Sure it is; look if you feel better calling it a 'tutoring session' then that's fine by me." Jiraiya said with a smirk.

Naruto chose to ignore him and instead glanced around the room for his textbooks hidden somewhere underneath his still half cleaned room. '_I hope I can at least find one book in here; I think my lowest grades are in Algebra and English right now.'_

'_What's the point in even bothering to search? Her family isn't going to accept you; or have you already forgotten that you're known as a reject to most people outside of your few friends?' _Kurama muttered.

"What time are you heading over there?" Jiraiya suddenly asked.

"I thought you were listening in, but to get there on time I'll leave here a little past 12:30." Naruto stated, brushing a pile of clothes out of the way.

Jiraiya nodded his head, stepping away from his room for a moment before coming back in and tossing a small packet at him.

Naruto read over the labeling of the package and scowled at what it was, throwing it back into his hands. "You stupid pervert, why the hell are you giving me condoms?!"

Jiraiya only grinned at Naruto's response, lightly tossing the box between his hands. "What? You can never be too sure if you'll need them if you two get some alone time together!"

Meanwhile at Hinata's home, she was experiencing a similar teasing experience. "You'll need to inform father and Neji of what you plan to do tomorrow over breakfast."

Hinata solemnly nodded her head, frowning at Hanabi's grin. "I don't see why you find this to be so funny!"

Hanabi shook her head, but still let out a small snicker. "It's just I can't wait to see how they'll react to this is all."

'_I'm wondering the same thing; tomorrow could end up being a very long day.' _Hinata considered, already planning out what she could say to them.

~**X**~

Hinata glanced between her father who was calmly sipping his morning tea and Neji who had just finished his bowl of steamed rice. The majority of breakfast had been spent with all of them silently eating at their meals, only speaking up when they wanted a plate or bowl passed to them. Hanabi had continuously been sending her looks for the past hour or so to say something before breakfast ended and Hinata nervously nodded her head to follow through with the plan.

"Father, there's something I need to tell you." Hinata spoke up, causing all eyes to turn on her.

Hiashi glanced up from his tea to focus on her while Neji sent her a puzzled look. Hinata worriedly chewed the inside of her lip, but turned to maintain eye contact with him. '_It's now or never; all I need to do is not let my stuttering get to me!'_

"Ah, today I invited a guest over for a tutoring session; he'll be coming by around 1 or 2 pm." Hinata stated softly, anxiously waiting to hear his response.

Hiashi said nothing for a moment, evenly stirring at his tea. "I don't feel you've earned the right to having a friend come by to be honest, though I suppose I'm fine with it as long as you two don't leave the compound, understand? You've been wearing my patience thin with your past antics."

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise before she happily nodded her head in agreement, but Neji narrowed his eyes at the subject. "Hinata, this guest wouldn't happen to be Naru-"

"Neji, I've already made my decision; there's no need to question it." Hiashi cut him off firmly, moving to stand from the table.

"I look forward to meeting this guest of yours later Hinata. In the meantime, I'll be meditating by the pond if anyone needs me." Hiashi finished, heading out of the room.

Hinata watched him leave, still feeling a bit tense over the whole matter. '_I'm not out of the woods yet…'_

As soon as Hiashi was out of an earshot, Neji turned to send both Hinata and Hanabi a glare. "Okay, what are you two hiding? Naruto is the one you invited over, isn't it?"

Hanabi giggled lightly, feigning confusion at his anger. "What do you mean Neji; aren't you just jumping to conclusions?"

Neji scowled at Hanabi's answer and shot Hinata a frown. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Hinata shifted uncomfortably under his stare, but slowly nodded her head. "I know you don't like Naruto, but I made a promise that I would help him and I don't intend to go back on it."

Neji only shook his head, getting up to leave also. "Well, you've already made your decision so I can't stop you; simply know that I did warn you ahead of time that it's a bad idea to interact with him."

Hanabi stuck her tongue out at Neji's attitude before sending Hinata a smile. "Don't let what he says get to you! At least father is okay with meeting him."

Hinata sent her a faint smile, but internally felt like a bundle of nerves. '_It's a little past 10 am now; there'_s _not much time to go now…'_

**X**~

"Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! No, that didn't come out right…uh maybe hello, I'm Naruto! Nah; that sounded lame too!" Naruto grumbled aloud to himself as he practiced greetings in front of his mirror.

In the past hour, Naruto had managed to at least find his algebra book underneath his bed and was now currently trying to think of ways to properly introduce himself to the Hyuga family.

"Shouldn't you be getting a move on already lover boy? It's already close to 12:50 pm now." Jiraiya asked from behind him with a chuckle.

Naruto glanced towards his desk clock and nearly let out a yelp of surprise. "Damn it, you should have said something earlier!"

Jiraiya watched as Naruto rushed out of his room before he suddenly ran back in again to pick up his textbook and backpack. "Hey, I look okay right?"

Jiraiya glanced over Naruto's attire of a simple long sleeved orange shirt and faded blue jeans. "Yeah, looks okay to me."

Naruto nodded his head brightly and turned back around to leave. "Thanks, I'll catch you later this evening old man!"

Jiraiya grinned and sent him a thumbs up, heading out into the living room to see him go. Jiraiya glanced over towards an old picture of Minato and Kushina and beamed even more. "Heh, your son is really starting to take his schoolwork seriously now, huh?"

'_To be honest, I never thought I would see the day when Naruto would actually start taking an interest in doing his studies and not just playing basketball all the time. I hope this girl continues to have a positive effect on him.' _Jiraiya contemplated.

Naruto ran as fast as he could towards the Hyuga manor, slowing down his pace slightly once he saw the well-known shrine that held the Hyuga family's emblem at the top.

Naruto pulled out his phone to check the time and relaxed a bit; it was just about 1:10 pm.

"Well, I guess I should just go up to the front door and knock." Naruto assumed, after glancing around the garden outside.

It took about 3 knocks on the door before Naruto was finally greeted by someone. Hiroshi eyed Naruto up and down with a small frown. "Uh, can I help you sir?"

'_He doesn't look like he wants to see you; not a big surprise really. I know you get tired of people sending you faces like that; I could change all that though if you listened to me…' _Kurama cackled.

'_Will you shut up?! I'm not going to let you interfere with me today!' _Naruto snapped back inwardly before he realized he still hadn't given the man an answer to his question.

"I'm here to see Hinata for a tutoring session!" Naruto stated cheerfully, paying no mind the bewildered expression Hiroshi gained.

"Mr. Hyuga didn't inform me of Miss Hyuga receiving any guests today, especially after her most recent actions; are you sure you're at the right place?" Hiroshi asked calmly, smirking somewhat at the annoyed look that passed on Naruto's face.

Naruto resisted the urge to growl at the man's rigid attitude. It was obvious he was only trying to piss him off to make him seem like a fool. Luckily, Hinata came to the door just as he was about to make a snide remark.

"Oh Naruto, you're here! Hiroshi, father already knows that he's my guest for today; please allow him to come in." Hinata said softly, sending Naruto a warm smile.

Hiroshi glowered at the mischievous grin Naruto sent him before reluctantly moving aside to let him in.

"I-I'm glad you could make it Naruto, did you remember to bring your study materials?" Hinata asked gently, once Hiroshi left them alone.

Naruto nodded his head, patting his backpack happily. "You bet! I only managed to find my algebra book, but I did read over the problems assigned."

Hinata smiled at that and was about to guide him over to her room until a voice cleared his throat from behind them.

"I see you decided to come after all." Neji stated coldly.

Naruto only met his cold demeanor with a smirk, casually grabbing Hinata's hand leading her to blush and Neji to scowl. "Of course I came, though I'm not here to see you."

Hinata frowned at the hostile tension between the two of them and quickly thought of a way to ease the mood. "Um, let's not start any fights; Naruto didn't come here to cause any trouble after all."

No more than a minute after Hinata had finished her statement did Hiashi come into view of all 3 of them. "Ah, I was wondering where all this noise was coming from; can I assume this is the guest you were mentioning from earlier Hinata?"

"Y-Yes Father, this is Naruto Uzumaki." Hinata uttered out quickly, internally berating herself for stuttering once again.

Hiashi arched an eyebrow at the name, staring specifically at Naruto's light blue eyes and golden blonde hair. '_Hmm, something about this boy seems familiar…'_

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir!" Naruto chirped out politely, holding out his hand and breaking Hiashi from his thoughts.

Hiashi stared down at his hand for a moment before ignorantly moving to walk past him. "Just don't keep Hinata too long from her studies."

Hinata pouted at her father's behavior, watching as he and Neji left the hallway more than likely to spar. '_Well, I suppose that could have gone worse, but he could have at least shook Naruto's hand!'_

Naruto muttered a few curses under his breathe; he knew why Neji would be angry at his presence, but why did Hiashi treat him so rudely too? '_He was staring at me for a long time now that I think about it.'_

"Ah, I'm sorry for how they acted, it's not often I bring a guest over." Hinata stated shyly. '_Especially not a guest that is a boy…'_

Naruto shook his head, squeezing her hand lightly. 'Oh, don't worry about that; they'll warm up to me in time!"

Hinata's cheeks reddened even more at Naruto's grip on her until they both heard Naruto's stomach suddenly rumble.

"Err, could we possibly have lunch before we begin? I kind of forgot to eat before I came here." Naruto asked, slightly embarrassed.

Hinata couldn't help but laugh lightly, pointing in the direction of the kitchen. "Of course."

~**X**~

"What would you like to eat? Grocery shopping was done yesterday so there are plenty of options to choose from." Hinata questioned, opening the fridge door.

Naruto drooled a little over how stuffed the fridge was. It was filled with a variety of fresh meats, vegetables, and drinks from popular stores around the city that he knew he could never afford. Even though Naruto felt tempted to simply ask for ramen as usual, Jiraiya had suggested to him that he try out new foods besides constantly eating the same meal over and over again.

"Uh, I'm not really in the mood for anything in particular. I can just have what you're having." Naruto stated.

Hinata tapped her chin thoughtfully before smiling. "Naruto, you like ramen right? I can make us both two bowls since that's quick and easy."

'_Well, since she DID offer to make it; I guess I can't refuse!' _Naruto thought with a silly grin, nodding his head in agreement.

While Hinata began to chop the vegetables and boil the water, Hanabi came into the kitchen at the aroma that began to fill the air.

"Oh, already beginning to cook meals for him Hinata? You two sure move fast!" She teased with a grin.

Hinata nearly pricked her finger in surprise and turned to face Hanabi's smirk. "W-When did you even come in?!"

Hanabi only chuckled, grabbing a yogurt from the fridge along with some juice. "I came in about a minute ago. It's not often I get to see you cook something."

Hanabi turned her attention towards Naruto who was sitting at the table and sent him a small smile. "Ah, so you're the one my sister is always daydreaming about and drawing pictures of."

"Huh?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Hanabi, shouldn't you be getting back to your training and other studies?!" Hinata cut in quickly, nervously trying to prevent her from saying anything else.

Hanabi pouted at Hinata's looks for her to leave, but nodded her head. "It was nice meeting you Naruto!"

Hinata almost let out a sigh of relief and tried to hide her flushed face from Naruto while he only laughed.

"I assume that was your sister, right?" Naruto asked with a snicker.

Hinata quietly nodded her head, glancing back towards the vegetables and water to avoid direct eye contact.

"She likes to tease me about so many things." Hinata mumbled out softly with a huff.

Naruto moved to stand beside Hinata to finish helping her cook. "Still though, it must be nice to have a sibling you can talk to and share secrets with."

Hinata paused in cutting a carrot to glance up at Naruto who looked deep in thought. '_He must be thinking about his own family now; I shouldn't have made it sound like Hanabi was annoying me that much…'_

Naruto suddenly turned to meet her gaze and Hinata felt her face start to redden all over again. "Careful Hinata; the water is going to boil over!"

Hinata blinked in confusion before realizing what he meant and quickly moved to turn the heat down on the stove.

Once two bowls had been prepared, Hinata and Naruto took a seat across from each other and dug in. "Hey Hinata, do you have any favorite foods?"

Hinata finished eating her bite before responding. "Um, I like red bean soup and I often eat cinnamon rolls as a dessert sometimes."

Naruto grinned at that, glad that he was learning a bit more about Hinata outside of just talking about school. "So…what exactly was your sister talking about when she brought up those drawings earlier; would it be okay for me to look at them?"

Hinata nearly choked on a noodle she had slurped in. '_I was hoping he forgot about that…'_

~**X**~

"A lavender themed room, huh?" Now that I think about it, you do wear that color a lot." Naruto mused; glancing at Hinata's matching bedspread and curtains.

Hinata timidly fiddled with her pink blouse, observing as Naruto took a seat down on her carpet. She hadn't felt anxious earlier when he had stood close to her while they made the ramen, so why was she starting to feel jittery around him all over again?

Hinata walked over to her desk and pulled out her sketchbook. In all her years of doodling in it, she never imagined the day would come where Naruto would actually want to see what was inside of it; especially since she only allowed Hanabi and her friends' small peeks at it rarely.

"M-My drawings aren't that good really." Hinata stuttered out, hesitantly handing it over to him.

"Nonsense, I'm sure you're a great artist!" Naruto stated brightly, already beginning to look over a few sketches.

Hinata nervously twiddled at her thumbs as Naruto's eyed each page carefully. '_I hope I can take those expressions as a positive sign.'_

"Wow Hinata are you in Art club at school or maybe even the Photo club? You should try and get some of these hung up! I particularly like this one of me playing basketball; I could shove it in Sasuke's face how great I look!"

Hinata blushed at the compliment and was about to respond that she was until she remembered her father's words. "I used to be in the art club until father found it to be too distracting…"

Naruto frowned at that, completing his looks over every drawing. "He can't tell you to just stop doing something you enjoy! You should show him these drawings as proof you're good at it."

Hinata immediately shook her hand, grabbing the sketchbook back from his hands. "No! I mean…he wouldn't understand; I don't want to cause anymore strains on our relationship."

'_Good job, you upset her with your inquisitive nature. You just never know when to keep your mouth shut, do you?' _Kurama taunted with him with a snicker.

Naruto angrily scowled at Kurama's mocking tone and gazed quietly at the floor. An awkward silence enveloped the two until Hinata quietly mentioned they should get started on the tutoring.

"Okay, so the first thing we do is graph the equations and then find the point where they intersect to find the answer, right?" Naruto questioned, after an hour of studying had passed.

"Correct, so what would be your answer after solving for X using both the graphing method and standard method?" Hinata asked back.

Hinata watched as Naruto wrote down the steps before grinning as he found an answer. "Is it 6 and -1?"

Hinata checked over his work before glancing at the answer sheet found in the back of textbook and sending him a smile. "You got it right! You're really starting to catch on now."

Naruto nodded his head proudly, continuing to work out problems. "Heh, wait till everyone sees me make an A on this exam!"

Hinata quietly watched him; happy that Naruto understood the material and that there had been minimal interruptions during the study period with only Neji walking by once to make sure they were actually doing work. She had even put on relaxing music to help keep Naruto focused.

Hinata took a brief glimpse towards outside and frowned; the sun was already beginning to set, leaving the sky a bright mix of red, orange, and violet.

Naruto seemed to take notice of the change to dusk too, letting out a sigh beside her. "Aw man, where did the time go? I guess I should get going before your old man or cousin yells at me."

"We can always do this again next Sunday maybe if you're free." Hinata suggested lightly, helping Naruto to organize the scattered papers he had written on.

Naruto brightened at that and swung his backpack onto his shoulders. "Sounds good to me!"

Hinata followed Naruto to the door and waved goodbye as he began to walk down the street. '_Today actually went well and it's possible this could be how all Sundays could turn out!'_

Hinata was about midway in her walk back to her room when Neji got her attention by gesturing over to her.

"Hiashi and I have been talking while you were studying with Naruto and we both agreed that you shouldn't move so fast with him. You don't know anything about him outside of school and some of his basic interests." Neji spoke out sternly.

Hinata appeared taken aback for a moment before glowering slightly. "Let me talk to father! Why is it he feels he can talk to you about things involving my life and not me?"

Neji moved to block Hinata from walking past him. "You'll have to wait on speaking to him until later. He's in a meeting with some other business executives right now."

Meanwhile, Naruto had returned back to the Hyuga manor when he realized he had left his textbook behind in Hinata's room.

Naruto trudged up the door once more, but frowned in surprise when he saw that the door was still open.

'_I hope Neji or Hinata's dad don't get pissed that I just walked in. I'm only here to grab my book and then go.' _Naruto pondered, quietly tiptoeing down the hall.

"I'm getting tired of hearing all these accusations you make!" Naruto suddenly heard a voice snap out.

"That sounded like Hinata, but she's not the type to yell like that, right?" Naruto whispered to himself, peeking into the room to see that Hinata appeared to be in an argument with Neji.

Naruto grimaced uncomfortably when he managed to hear Neji make a muffled retort back that Hinata was only letting her emotions get the better of her.

'_It's obvious they must be talking about me.' _Naruto realized, slowly backtracking away from the room and back to outside of the home.

'_Heh, of course they're talking about you. You're nuisance to everyone whether you know it or not.' _Kurama bitterly reminded him.

Naruto for once couldn't help but agree with him. It would be better to wait until Hinata gave him his book back tomorrow at school rather than unknowingly create more trouble for her.

~**Chapter 5 Ends~ let me know your thoughts and as always thanks for reading! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone, thanks for all the feedback, favorites, and follows! I'm glad people are enjoying the story. :D

**Chapter 6: Matched **

"You've been awfully quite since you came home Naruto. You didn't botch things up with the Hyuga family already, did you?" Jiraiya asked, as the two ate dinner together.

'_There was nothing to botch up in the first place since they already hated me from the get go.' _Naruto mused silently before shaking his head.

"I didn't get a chance to talk to Hinata much about her interests outside of school and what she plans to do in the future before we realized it was getting late." Naruto partially lied. He had at least found out Hinata had an interest in art and drawing, but he had also been curious about her career goals as well. Was she possibly going to run one of her father's companies or stray off the path to do what she wanted?

Jiraiya wiped his mouth with his napkin, grinning as he set it back down on his plate. "Oh, well that's nothing to get all mopey about! You'll have plenty of time to learn about that stuff down the road the next time you two meet up for a tutoring session."

'_Ha, I doubt there will be a 'next time' based on that conversation you listened in on. Her father and cousin are probably planning right this minute how they can get you away from Hinata…' _Kurama snickered out.

Naruto growled at the mocking laugh echoing throughout his head until eventually, he slammed his fists on the table to block it out. Jiraiya blinked in confusion at the abrupt action before he realized Naruto was angrily gripping at the table.

"Whoa Naruto; what's going on? This isn't just about Hinata, is it?" Jiraiya questioned, getting up to rub his back and calm him down.

Naruto slowly panted out heavily until he felt his fury dissipate. It usually wasn't this easy for Kurama to get under his skin, but he was gradually starting to annoy him more and more which each passing day.

"Let me guess, this has something to do with Kurama?" Jiraiya assumed, already moving back into his seat across from him.

Naruto wiped a few beads of sweat off his face with a sigh. "Was it that obvious?"

"You can't listen to what he tells you Naruto; it could lead you to have a breakdown. You're mother had this same issue and she-"Jiraiya was suddenly cut off with a snort from Naruto.

"Old man, you've already told me this story perhaps a hundred times by now. I know Kurama is something that I'll have to live with it…some days are just harder to deal with him than others is all." Naruto grumbled out.

Jiraiya frowned at Naruto's biting tone. Something more must have happened during that tutoring session, but he would have to wait on getting it out of him for now.

"So…speaking of careers and life goals; have you given any thought to your own plans for after high school?" Jiraiya inquired.

Naruto shrugged, sitting up slightly in his chair. "You know I'm undecided."

Jiraiya shook his head, pointing over to the picture of Minato and Kushina with a smirk. "If I remember correctly, didn't you use to go around the city happily proclaiming that one day you would become mayor like your Dad once was?"

Naruto glanced over at the photo, taken aback for a moment as memories of his old dream resurfaced in his mind. Endless nights where he would stay up listening to his dad recount stories of business trips he had taken to nearby cities and towns to help people until his mother would come in and scold him to go to bed. Fun trips to the park where random citizens would come up to his dad and mother to thank them for their continued military service while also working to take care of the community when they were off-duty.

For that brief time his dad had been mayor prior to his retirement from the position to focus more on combat training, Naruto had envisioned that being the mayor must be the best possible job in the world. People looked up to you and were always friendly towards you, things he had secretly longed for out of his classmates. It wasn't until he realized his parents wouldn't be returning from the risky mission the military had assigned them to though that he decided it was best to keep his childish fantasies buried.

'_I'm surprised Jiraiya even remembers something like that considering that I haven't even brought it up in years…' _Naruto reflected.

"What happened to that dream of yours? You used to annoy the heck out of the neighbors, friends, and just about anybody who asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up." Jiraiya asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"What happened was I grew up. Geez, that was back when I was like 5 or 6; it's not like I could become a mayor anyways when a majority of people think I'm too stupid or lazy to hold such a title." Naruto said with a scoff.

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow at that. "With an attitude like that, of course you wouldn't get the position. All you need to do is just work on improving your grades and work effort. Perhaps you could even look into possibly majoring in Political Science if getting a basketball scholarship doesn't work out."

Naruto watched as Jiraiya stood up from the table and went over to the kitchen to wash his plate. "Well, I'm going to head over to that bath and spa house down the street for a quick soaking."

Naruto followed after him before scowling at his remark when he saw the time was already close to 9 pm. "You realize that bathhouse closes in 30 minutes, right?"

Jiraiya only turned to send Naruto a wink. "I know; that's the best time to catch the ladies though! You should finish up on the rest of your homework and get ready for school tomorrow. I don't want you getting sent home early again."

Naruto chose not to respond, heading into his room and hopping onto his bed. All he felt like doing right now was sleeping really. Hinata had probably found his textbook by now and set it with her own backpack and materials.

'_I shouldn't have eavesdropped on her conversation with Neji. I already know even if I try to avoid Hinata or ignore her just to please her dad and cousin, I would eventually end up cracking since I like spending time with her.' _ Naruto thought with a slight smile, glancing out his window in the direction of Hinata's home.

"I'm not as hopeless as they think I am." Naruto muttered to himself, slowly drifting off.

~**X**~

"Hinata, why do you have two algebra textbooks in your locker?" Sakura asked, watching as Hinata put away some notebooks and pencils.

Hinata froze slightly at the question, unsure how to answer it without Sakura and the others jumping to conclusions. "Um well, one of them actually belongs to Naruto." '_I wanted to give it to him back in class, but it seems like he decided to skip…'_

Sakura's green eyes sparked with interest at that. "Oh, really? Didn't he go over to your house yesterday for tutoring lessons?"

Ino clasped her hands giddily next to her. "Ooh I do believe you're right Sakura! Hinata has been awfully quiet on the details of what happened while he was there."

"That's because nothing happened while he was there!" Hinata huffed out with a blush, but Sakura and Ino's grins only widened at that.

"Hinata, are you implying you _**wanted **_something to happen then?" Ino asked teasingly, leading Hinata's face to flush even more.

"N-No! I didn't mean it like that!" Hinata stuttered out.

Tenten sighed as she leaned against a locker next to them. "You guys, stop teasing Hinata so much. I know you two wouldn't pass up on the opportunity for a tutoring session if it involved Shikamaru or Sasuke respectively."

Hinata sent Tenten a thankful smile at getting the topic off of her. "Tenten, how are you feeling since you got out of the hospital? I heard you checked yourself out early."

Tenten nodded her head, sliding her red jacket off a little to show her still bandaged shoulder. "Yeah I did, but it wouldn't be good for me to miss any more school. I'll just have to deal with the remaining pain I have."

'_I haven't heard from Tenten since that conversation she had with Neji during the game. I wonder if he's tried to persuade her to do anything else since then…' _Hinata mused.

Hey Hinata, did you learn anything about Naruto while he was there? Surely you two didn't spend the whole time studying." Ino suddenly piped up curiously.

Hinata thought back to the brief times they had gone off topic before frowning. "I didn't actually discover much about his hobbies outside of school now that I think about it."

Sakura pouted at that news. "That's too bad; though I'm not sure there is much else to know about Naruto besides his love for ramen and basketball."

"Speaking about food is only going to make me hungrier. Let's head over to the cafeteria before lunch hour ends already." Tenten cut in.

Sakura and Ino nodded their heads in agreement, heading down the hallway ahead of her. Tenten paused in her walk to look back when she realized Hinata was still standing by her locker.

"Aren't you coming Hinata? The lines get pretty long around this time." Tenten questioned.

Hinata stared at her locker for a moment longer, her attention fixed on Naruto's book. "You can go on ahead without me. I brought my own lunch from home anyways."

Tenten followed her gaze before smiling gently. "You know, Neji has mentioned to me that Naruto likes to sometimes eat his lunch on the rooftop."

Hinata's eyes widened in realization of her words, quickly taking out Naruto's textbook along with her own lunch bag out of her locker. "Thank you Tenten."

Tenten only shook her head with a laugh, observing as Hinata went off in the opposite direction. '_There's no reason why I can't play a little matchmaker behind Neji's back.'_

"Students aren't even allowed up here, so I hope Naruto really didn't decide to skip all of school." Hinata whispered to herself, glancing around appliances for the familiar blonde.

Hinata continued carefully walking around until an abrupt snoring noise caused her to peer over towards the far right corner of the building. Hesitantly, Hinata trekked over to the corner and sure enough found Naruto fast asleep against one of the school's air conditioner units.

'_Wow, he looks so comfortable even though he's resting against a hard machine. I wonder if I should even wake him up.' _Hinata thought in surprise, admiring his peaceful expression.

Eventually, Hinata gently shook Naruto's shoulder causing him to jump up in shock. "I wasn't sleeping Mr. Sarutobi; the answer is 12!"

Hinata giggled lightly at his reaction, waiting for him to readjust to his surroundings. "Don't worry; we're not in class right now Naruto. I wish you hadn't chosen to miss it though."

Naruto let out a yawn as he realized Hinata's presence beside him. "Oh Hinata, I didn't expect anyone to know I come up here."

Hinata blushed lightly as she held out his algebra book. "I just wanted to return this to you. You left it at my house yesterday."

Naruto casually accepted the book back and sat up a bit more against the appliance to stretch his arms out.

"So, what brings you to the rooftop? Did you come to skip class with me perhaps?" Naruto asked suggestively with a grin.

Hinata's face reddened at the implication, pulling out a sandwich from her lunch bag into view. "Ah, N-No! It's actually lunch time right now so I figured you might be hungry."

Naruto grinned eagerly as Hinata broke the sandwich in half to hand a piece to him until a thought made him withdraw his hand back. '_You're only going to end up being an annoyance to her. Her sincerity is just a façade; don't get caught up in your emotions.'_

"On second thought, I'm not that hungry. You should probably head back down the cafeteria where the rest of the gang is." Naruto stated.

Hinata blinked in confusion at Naruto's statement. Since when did Naruto turn down opportunities to eat free food?

"Naruto, are you feeling okay?" Hinata asked softly, hoping she wasn't trying to pry too much into his personal business.

'_You know I'm right; listen to me for once in your life.' _Kurama chanted on, smirking at Naruto's silence.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto answered bluntly, wincing when he saw Hinata flinch back at his response. Maybe being cold-hearted wasn't the way to go about this.

"Sorry Hinata, I just…I don't want you having to be hassled by your family because you spend time around me." Naruto eventually grumbled out.

'_Is that what this is about? I can't blame him for thinking that way considering I still haven't even been able to talk to Father regarding how he reacted to Naruto.' _Hinata pondered.

"I know my father didn't treat you as kindly as I thought he would have yesterday, but how he feels towards you doesn't represent my feelings towards you." Hinata spoke up hastily, pushing to offer the other half of the sandwich again.

Naruto appeared puzzled for a second at her words, but slowly felt himself start to grin. "Heh, I still don't get why you go against your family wishes to spend time with me, but I do appreciate it.

Hinata smiled back at him as he ate his part of the sub, mentally urging herself to tell him how much she truly cared for him and not let another opportunity go to waste. '_Naruto, why are you the only person who doesn't see how much I like you?'_

"By the way Hinata, what do you want to do after high school? Are you going to run one of the Hyuga corporations?" Naruto asked once he finished eating.

Hinata sighed; the subject had already changed in the midst of her internal struggle. "I'm not sure if I'll be a part of one of father's companies. I was looking into architecture since I like to draw and design things, but I'm also interested in the medical field; perhaps as a pharmacist or nurse."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding. It figured that Hinata already had ideas in her head for what she wanted to do with her life while he remained unsure.

"Since you're good at basketball, I'm sure you could get into a lot of good colleges based on your skills." Hinata mentioned.

Naruto only shrugged at that. "I wouldn't be so sure. I would be competing with students from all the high schools not just in Konoha, but in nearby cities too for those athletic scholarships."

"What would you do if it wasn't basketball?" Hinata inquired.

'_Try to become the mayor? Would it be stupid if I brought that up; would she laugh at me?' _Naruto wondered for a second.

"Err, you may think it sounds dumb, but when I was younger I always dreamed of becoming the mayor of the city." Naruto said, pointing towards the office.

Hinata squinted her eyes towards the building, taking a small peek at Naruto to see that he held a mix of a wistful and somber look.

"I-I don't think it's dumb! If trying to become the mayor is something you really want, then in our next tutoring session we should focus more on history and government so you can learn the basics." Hinata explained eagerly.

Naruto shook his head, turning his gaze away from the building. "Nah, it's no big deal. It wasn't something I seriously wanted to do."

Hinata frowned; she could tell Naruto was faking disinterest in the job for reasons she didn't know. Normally, Naruto would be excited to prove he was capable of doing anything others thought he could never do. '_I won't pressure him into telling me…'_

The sudden sound of the bell signaling lunch was over made Hinata stand back up and brush the leftover sandwich crumbs off of her. Hinata peered over her shoulder to see that Naruto was still sitting down, enjoying the view of the city.

Hinata turned back around and held out her hand to him. "Come on Naruto, the day is already half over. I think you can handle 2 more class periods, right?"

Naruto reluctantly accepted her hand to help him back up to a standing position. "Yeah I guess, but I doubt anyone would have noticed we were gone…"

Naruto only laughed as Hinata's face flushed once more at that. '_I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing that reaction.'_

Once Hinata and Naruto parted ways, Hinata noticed Neji staring at her down the hall. Hinata furrowed her brows at him, unlike the past times when Neji had seen her with Naruto; he now had a calm smile on his face.

"What's with that look? You aren't mad to have seen me with Naruto?" Hinata questioned suspiciously.

Neji continued to hold his casual smirk. "You can do as you please with him for now though that may change in a couple of days."

'_What is that supposed to mean?' _Hinata thought in concern.

"You'll find out what I mean when you get home and remember; it's to benefit you in the long run." Neji continued on, leaving Hinata even more confused and worried.

~**X**~

By the time Hinata had gotten home, her father was apparently in another meeting with other business executives from different companies.

Hinata was about to walk over to her room when Hanabi gestured over to her. "Why has father suddenly started conducted so many meetings here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. It seems like he's been having one in the main room every week or via telephone. I still needed to talk to him regarding Naruto too." Hinata replied back.

Hinata and Hanabi glanced over towards central room where Hiashi had his usual conferences. They had barely seen him over the past few hours, only catching brief glimpses of him when he was either getting a quick meal from the kitchen or heading to his bedroom to retrieve something.

'_I don't want to wait around any longer though. I need to find out what Neji's words meant and clear the air with him.' _Hinata reasoned, stepping over towards the closed doors.

Hiroshi held his hand out to block Hinata from getting any closer. "Hiashi is in a meeting right now, wait until he comes out."

Hinata shook her head, brushing his arm aside. "This matter is urgent. I'll deal with any consequences I face for interrupting them."

Hiroshi narrowed his eyes at her attitude, slowly moving aside to let her in. Immediately, all eyes turned to her as soon as she placed a foot inside.

Hiashi sent her a disapproving look. "I thought Hiroshi was guarding the door."

Hinata trembled slightly under his harsh glare, but maintained her stance. "I-I sent him away. I know now might not be the best time, but I need to discuss with you the matter concerning Naruto."

Hiashi held his hand up to stop Hinata from saying anything else. "Say no more; I've already taken care of that issue."

Hinata felt all the remaining words she wanted to say get caught in her throat. All the managers of the various companies began to whisper amongst themselves as she her mind started to spin with fear.

"W-What do you mean?" Hinata managed to mumble back.

Hiashi waited until the whispering stopped for him to answer. "I mean exactly what I said. That situation has been handled; Naruto isn't someone who will help you succeed in your future so I decided to help make things easier for you."

'_I still don't understand what he means. Surely he hasn't been making all these decisions without involving me behind my back, has he?!' _Hinata thought in growing panic.

"Perhaps it's a good thing you decided to intrude after all. You were going to need to hear this news sooner or later." Hiashi stated, setting aside his paperwork.

"Hinata, I want what's best for you once you graduate from high school. That's why I've been having all these meetings with these companies for the past few days and have determined that there will be a merger between one of the Hyuga enterprises and Harada Inc." Hiashi continued on.

"Okay, what does that have to do with me though?" Hinata questioned nervously.

"The son of Harada Inc.'s president is around your age and I've planned for you two to meet this coming Saturday to represent the union of our companies' future. I know you won't let me down." Hiashi explained.

~x~

_That's it for Chapter 6! Let me know you thoughts and as usual; thanks for reading! :_)


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the continued feedback; I enjoy hearing any thoughts/suggestions! Next update might take me a little longer due to school. :)

**Chapter 7: Anticipation**

"Y-You don't mean to say that you're trying to get me engaged right after high school ends, are you?!" Hinata sputtered out weakly.

Hiashi simply nodded his head, paying no mind to Hinata's growing look of shock. "Come now Hinata, you have yet to even meet Ryota. He is a fine boy who is diligent in his studies and a proper gentleman." '_The exact opposite of Naruto now that I think about it…' _

"I-I refuse to go! You cannot keep making decisions like this behind my back and believe that I will just accept them willfully." Hinata retorted.

Hiashi narrowed his eyes, turning away from her to start the meeting again once more. "The matter isn't up for discussion."

Hinata chewed the inside of her lip angrily at his blatant disregard of her feelings. Hiroshi eventually moved from outside the door to gently push her back out.

Hinata gave once last look over her shoulder before the door slammed closed behind her. He hadn't even taken a second glance towards her.

"So, what happened; what are Father's meetings about?" Hanabi questioned tensely, watching as Hinata quietly sat down on her bed.

"He…he wants me to go out with the son of Harada Inc.'s president on Saturday." Hinata stated slowly, still not sure she even believed it herself.

Hanabi appeared puzzled before she understood what Hinata meant. "It's a set up. We should have seen this coming."

'It's _no wonder Neji was so calm earlier, this has been planned for a long time now I bet. What should I do? It won't conflict with tutoring Naruto on Sundays, but still…' _Hinata thought.

"They really turned the tables back in their favor this time. You could always feign illness or avoid going to the assigned meeting area." Hanabi suggested softly.

Hinata shook her head, smoothing out the linens across her bed. "No, I'm sure they've already thought of that. Father will probably have Hiroshi or another one of his assistants follow me there I'm sure."

Hanabi scowled, lightly tapping her fingers against the dresser. "This isn't good; I can't think of anything at the moment to prevent you from having to go!"

Hinata lifted her head to send her sister a gentle smile. "Please don't start stressing about this Hanabi. This is my problem to deal with after all, not yours."

Hanabi pouted slightly, but nodded her head and turned to leave her alone to think. Hinata stared up at her ceiling for a few minutes, dozens of options passing through her mind until she decided to start sketching to distract herself.

'_Naruto, what would you even think if I told you about this? You already seem so lonely at times even when you try and play it off by smiling. The last thing I want is for you to assume that I'm going to blow you off for this new guy. Perhaps I'm not going about this the right way…I need to show father and Neji that I'm not going to back down no matter what they throw at me.' _Hinata considered, as she completed an outline of a lake she had drawn earlier in the week.

Hinata continued to flip through old sketches until an idea occurred to her. Quickly, Hinata moved from her desk to grab her phone still sitting by her bed.

"I should have thought of this earlier, I only hope he agrees to it." Hinata whispered to herself excitedly.

~**X**~

'_Huh? She wants me to do what?'_ Naruto thought in confusion, rereading Hinata's text once more.

"**Please come with me on a date on Saturday. I'll give you more details later on in the week involving the time and place. Oh, but only if your free! I wouldn't want to cut into any basketball practice you may have to do. –Hinata**

'_It sounds like she's asking you out, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.' _Kurama mused.

Naruto tuned out his voice, still unsure what to make of the message. Sure he enjoyed Hinata's company, but did she really like him that much that she wanted to go out with him? Hinata didn't seem like the type to play tricks on people though…

"Maybe I should ask for advice from some people at school tomorrow before I respond back." Naruto mumbled, setting his phone back down on his desk.

'_On the other hand, I shouldn't keep her waiting for an answer either. Girls don't like when guys do that, right?' _Naruto continued to question himself the next day, staring off into space.

The swift sound of a basketball whizzing past his face quickly made him snap out of it. "Damn it Naruto, pay attention; we're in the middle of practice here!"

Naruto sent Sasuke a scowl before moving to retrieve the ball. "That's no reason to try to slam my face in asshole!"

"You two need to put that youthful energy you have into our next game instead of fighting each other; cool down by doing 100 laps around the court followed by 100 push-ups!" Gai yelled out to them.

Naruto groaned at the punishment, but promptly broke into a run before Gai decided to add on to it in the midst of his fervor.

"Why have you been distracted for all of practice anyways? Sakura told me you didn't even hear your name being called out during attendance in first period." Sasuke questioned him, evenly keeping up with his pace.

Naruto simply shrugged, not sure why Sasuke even cared. "I'm just wondering how to respond to this text Hinata sent me is all."

Sasuke smirked slightly at that. "Oh, really? Well we all know you're dense when it comes to anything involving women."

'_Ha Ha! Why are you even friends with this guy again?! Most of the conversations you have with him involve him insulting you. Do you not care what people think or say of you?' _Kurama snickered out.

"Shut the hell up already." Naruto hissed under his breathe, earning him a brief look of puzzlement from Sasuke at his response. '_What's up with him?'_

"What did the text entail by the way? It has to be something good if you've been so preoccupied thinking about it" Sasuke questioned, disregarding what he heard for now.

"Err, she was asking me to go out with her on Saturday. She didn't give me any details on time or location though." Naruto responded back.

Sasuke stopped momentarily in his run to send him an annoyed look. "That's what's been bugging you this whole time? Seriously?"

Naruto frowned at how childish Sasuke thought the whole ordeal was. "What?! Nobody's ever asked me out before." '_Unless they were using me to try and get closer to you that is.' _Naruto added in mentally with a huff.

"I can see why; I knew you were dumb, but not this dumb." Sasuke muttered out.

Naruto rolled his eyes in frustration and moved to continue on with his laps. "You know, you could provide me with some advice besides insulting my intelligence."

"I'm surprised you even need any advice for this. Just answer her back with a yes you are available or a no you can't make it or some crap like that. Hinata isn't trying to play games or toy with you; you should already know that based on the last tutoring lesson she gave you." Sasuke explained.

Naruto slowly nodded his head, smiling as he thought back to Hinata's kindness. "Hey, how did you even know I have tutoring sessions with Hinata? I don't remember telling you…"

"Sakura told me." Sasuke stated plainly, heading over towards a spot by the bleachers to start the push-ups.

Naruto grinned mischievously at that. "Heh, you do much more things with Sakura than you let on, huh?"

"…Shut-up, at least I don't need to ask for help in understanding when a girl obviously likes you." Sasuke mumbled.

"Huh? Speak up! I barely heard what you said." Naruto questioned.

Sasuke only shook his head, ignoring Naruto's gripes for him to repeat what he said. '_This idiot better not screw things up come Saturday.'_

~**X**~

'_He still hasn't answered me back yet. Maybe he doesn't want to come; he probably is holding back on responding to not hurt my feelings.' _Hinata considered with a sigh, glancing back up at her friends while they all ate lunch outside for once.

"Hinata, you've been staring at your phone for a good 5 minutes now. Are you expecting a call or text from a certain you know who?" Ino asked over her shoulder, already beginning to grin wickedly.

Hinata nearly jumped in fright, almost dropping her phone in the process. "N-No! Well…I guess yes and no actually."

"What does that mean?" Sakura questioned from her side.

Hinata fiddled timidly with her phone as everyone waited for her to respond. "Um, I asked Naruto out on a date yesterday, but he hasn't given me an answer yet…"

Ino let out a squeal of excitement while Tenten let out a low whistle. "Why hasn't he answered you yet though?" Tenten questioned.

"That's what I would like to know too. Want me to go 'ask' him for you to make sure he confirms it?" Sakura questioned with a growl, cracking her knuckles for emphasis.

"Ah, that's not necessary Sakura!" Hinata stated quickly. '_I need to think of a backup plan though if this really doesn't work out…'_

"Where were you planning to go? Ooh, I think they have this upcoming festival downtown this weekend! Or maybe if you were thinking of a quieter place you two could go on a walk around the park; that would be so romantic!" Ino said with a giddy grin.

Tenten flicked her arm before she started to ramble on. "Ino, I think you're mixing in your own fantasies into those options."

Hinata laughed lightly, blushing as she imagined the places she had in mind. "It's actually a bit more complicated than that. It wouldn't be just Naruto and I alone."

Sakura arched an eyebrow at that. "Hmm, you want one of us to come along for morale support?"

Hinata glanced around the nearby benches for any sign of Neji before shaking her head. "Truthfully, I think my father and Neji have worked together to try and set me up with this other guy called Ryota."

"Neji did what?!" Tenten snapped out angrily, crushing her canned soda. '_I know he doesn't like Naruto, but this is pushing it a bit too far! I need to have a talk with him…'_

Hinata nodded her head, casually twirling a fallen leaf in her hands. "That's why I thought of a loophole in their plan by inviting Naruto along too. He never said I had to spend it with only his guest after all. The only problem is I don't know the time or location yet and the possible repercussions that will come out of doing this."

"It's still a good plan! I like it; even with those small issues at hand!" Tenten said with a chuckle, calming back down.

"Yeah, but I guess I should think of other ideas in the meantime." Hinata muttered until her phone suddenly lit up and buzzed next to her.

"What was that you were saying?" Ino said with a smirk, grinning when Hinata's face heated up.

Hinata picked back up her phone and sighed happily when she realized the new message she had was indeed from Naruto.

"_**Hey Hinata, sorry I took so long to reply back! I'm free Saturday so I wouldn't mind hanging out! Just let me in on those other details soon!" –Naruto**_

"Telling from the look on your face I assumed Naruto texted you back?" Sakura questioned.

Hinata nodded her head, clutching her phone close to her heart. '_Looks like I won't need a back-up plan after all.'_

**X**~

"Wow, that's a great idea! I knew you wouldn't let anyone get in the way of you and Naruto! It's too bad the people getting in the way happen to be family." Hanabi whispered out in delight.

Hinata quietly shushed her as the two of them continued to eat dinner alone. "There's no guarantee that this plan will even work out."

Hanabi was about to reply back until she heard footsteps from behind her. The brief frown that passed on Hinata's face confirmed that Neji must have come in.

"Uncle wanted me to inform you that your meeting time with Ryota will be at 3 pm at The Renaissance Café; Hiroshi will be coming along too." Neji said calmly.

"Did he also tell you that I don't want to go? None of these things you two plan out will change my feelings towards Naruto." Hinata responded back gently.

'_Why does she not sound so angry about this? Surely she knows there is more to this than just a date, right? There's no way she can escape from going to this meeting.' _Neji pondered, retrieving a small snack from the cabinet before leaving again.

"You took what he said quite well. Isn't The Renaissance Café one of the fanciest restaurants in the city though? I don't think Naruto will be able to afford it." Hanabi quietly uttered, making sure Neji was far enough down the hall not to hear her.

"Yes it is, but I've thought ahead for that by bringing a bit more cash along in case Naruto doesn't have enough or we even just eat elsewhere!" Hinata answered back with a cheery smile, getting up to clean her plate.

It took an agonizing few hours for Hinata to wait until she was sure the rest of the house was asleep. Hinata slowly brushed back her silk curtains to allow moonlight into the darkness of her room. It was already close to midnight and on a school night even! Still, she couldn't afford to have anyone interrupt her as she passed this information on to Naruto.

"_**Sorry, I'm sending this text so late, but the meeting place is supposed to be at The Renaissance Café at 3 pm. I know that place is expensive, but there's a reason for it. My father has tried to set me up with this other guy named Ryota, but I want you to come along to disrupt his plans if you don't mind." -Hinata**_

To Hinata's surprise, Naruto replied back a few minutes later.

"_**Seems a bit odd to me, but I'm willing to help! I don't need to dress all fancy though, do I?" –Naruto**_

Hinata giggled lightly, picturing Naruto's confused face before typing back a no. As she plugged in her phone to let it charge, part of her mind angrily scolded her for using Naruto like this. Even if he was accepting of the plan, it still made her feel sick.

'_Why are you letting this girl take advantage of you? Clearly she only needs you just to rub it in her father and cousin's face before probably throwing you aside.' _Kurama questioned him.

Naruto only sighed, his head throbbing at the continued rants Kurama had been giving him throughout the night. He could trust Hinata, yet he partially felt tempted to believe in the fox. Naruto lazily turned over on his side, the aching in his head spreading gradually throughout his body. He couldn't slip into having thoughts like this; it would only begin to consume him with the hatred and malice Kurama urged him to seek.

'_I don't care what you think; I'm still going to meet up with her.' _Naruto internally thought, pushing himself to sleep against the tightening feeling in his chest.

"Wait, you're going out with her on Saturday?! That's only a few days from now!" Jiraiya cried out, observing as Naruto slowly ate his breakfast the following morning.

Naruto let out a yawn in boredom, paying no mind to his excitement. "It's not a big deal since it's more like I'm the third wheel. It's only to try and get her family off her back really…"

Jiraiya shook his head, fervently shaking at his shoulders to wake him up. "From what you've told me, she doesn't sound like the type of girl to be vengeful! How is it you're not at least a little enthusiastic about this?"

Naruto only shrugged, unsure how to give him a proper answer. He was curious about this Ryota guy though. Hinata had come to him for help with this problem out of all the guys she knew, that had to count for something.

"Hmm, just make sure to show this other guy up and make the date only about you two so afterwards you know…" Jiraiya trailed off with a grin.

"Know what?" Naruto asked obliviously.

"Oh, you know!" Jiraiya replied, waggling his eyebrows to get his point across.

Naruto stared at him blankly, getting up to leave before he ended up being late for school. "Never have your head out of the gutter, do you?"

"Nope!" Jiraiya called out happily to him just as he left out the main door.

~**X**~

'_Alright, today is finally the day of this so called date. The least I can do is try to be polite to him.' _Hinata mused, forcing herself to smile as she came into view of Ryota. Nothing in particular about his appearance stood out to her. He had average wavy brown hair with light hazel eyes that partially made her question why her father found this guy to be so special besides for just his grades.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person Hinata; your father has told me so much about you!" Ryota said, gently kissing her hand in greeting.

Hinata blushed slightly at the gesture, retracting her hand back quickly. Ryota seemed to pay her response no mind as he guided her inside the restaurant with Hiroshi following from a good distance away.

'_Oh, where is Naruto? He sent me a text a few minutes ago saying he was on his way, but he's nowhere in sight!' _Hinata thought in worry.

"Hinata, what would you like to order? You can pick from anything you want." Ryota asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

Hinata glanced over the various options, slowly taking her to time to read each description to prolong waiting out for Naruto.

"Um, I guess I'll take the-"Hinata was suddenly cut off when she heard a familiar shout towards the front of the Café.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to calm down and speak slowly! Now, who did you say you were looking for again?" The server questioned.

"I told you her name is Hinata Hyuga; I just saw her walk in!" Naruto snapped back, sending the security guards a glare to back off him.

Hinata's eyes lit up at the calling of her name, briefly sending Ryota a look she would be right back before she headed over to him.

"Naruto, it's okay. You got here just in time!" Hinata said, tapping his shoulder to get his attention.

Naruto was momentarily taken aback at her appearance. Hinata had chosen to curl the ends of her violet hair and apply light make up that really brought out her pearly eyes. The simple pink dress she had chosen to wear completed her ensemble nicely.

"Wow, you…you look great Hinata!" Naruto said in awe, glancing over her with a grin.

Hinata's face reddened at the flattery, peering quickly at his own attire of the Konoha High black jacket that matched well with his plain red shirt and blue jeans.

"T-Thanks, you look nice to." Hinata said back, smiling when Naruto's grin widened even further at that.

'_What the? What on earth is that guy doing here?!' _Hiroshi thought in shock, sitting a few tables away from the scene.

Ryota stared at the two for a moment before walking up behind Hinata and clearing his throat to get their attention once more. "Uh, Hinata? Who is this guy?"

Naruto casted Ryota a curt gaze, reaching out to gently place a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "I'm a friend from school she invited along, that's not a problem, is it?"

Ryota arched an eyebrow at the action, noticing how much livelier Hinata had gotten from his presence in only a few minutes.

Hiroshi sent him a quick look from the side to go just along with it. He would need to wait and see how this played out before making any hasty decisions.

"Sure…I guess that will be fine." Ryota eventually answered slowly. Hiashi could have at least informed him that Hinata apparently already had a boyfriend before trying to set them up.

~**X**~

Hiroshi angrily debated with himself on what he should do as he watched the trio leave the restaurant to head for the park. Hinata had once again disobeyed her father's decisions to have another rendezvous with Naruto. He wasn't sure whether to blame her new attitude on Naruto's influence or her own teenage rebellion and desires.

'_Either way, I can't keep sitting here and let all of Hiashi's hard work for planning this go to waste.' _Hiroshi concluded, getting Ryota's attention as Hinata and Naruto walked ahead of him.

"You need to divert her attention back to you. Why are you just letting this guy take the date away from you?!" Hiroshi seethed out.

Ryota sighed at his continued pestering. The last thing he wanted to deal with right now was a lecture. '_It would be a waste if I didn't try to get to know her better though. Our dads went to all this trouble after all.' _Ryota thought with a chuckle, catching up to the two.

"So Hinata, I've barely learned anything about you since this date started. Surely you didn't intend to ignore me, did you?" Ryota whispered in her ear, gently tugging her into arms.

Hinata let out a small eep at the action, stunned for a moment at Ryota's behavior. For a while she had let her mind slip that this date was meant for only her and Naruto.

"A-Ah, I'm going to get some ice cream; I'll be right back!" Hinata hurriedly uttered out, rushing over to the nearby stand to temporarily get away from him.

Ryota chuckled at Hinata's shy demeanor; maybe his father's idea of setting him up with this girl wouldn't be so bad if he could get her focus to stay on him.

"Heh, what's your point in even staying here? Clearly Hinata basically forgot you were even here." Naruto asked bluntly.

Ryota shook his head, grinning at Naruto's glare. "You won't be able to get rid of me that easily and technically speaking, shouldn't _**you**_ be the one leaving? I'm the one her family wants; not you."

'_I know how badly you want to wipe that smile off his face. Don't let him push you around and taunt you like that…or are you going to be a coward?' _Kurama asked mockingly.

Naruto angrily gritted his teeth. "I don't care what her family thinks; that hasn't stopped me from spending time with her!"

"Well, that will probably be ending soon too. After all, I'll be transferring to Konoha High to be closer to the Hyuga's companies to understand their business before the merger takes place." Ryota answered back, amused at Naruto's bewildered expression.

"Guess you don't have some smartass remark to make to that, huh? Too bad really, and here I figured there might have been more to you than meets the eye. Ryota mused tauntingly, not noticing the flash of red in Naruto's eyes.

"Don't be so sure." Naruto snapped back coldly, raising his fist to strike him.

~x~


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Thanks for the feedback, alerts, and favorites! Let me know your thoughts as always and thanks for reading as usual! :)

**Chapter 8: Playing with Fire **

The last thing Naruto recalled hearing just as his punch landed on Ryota was the sound of Kurama's distinct laughter before everything became a blur.

"Naruto, please stop! This isn't like you; don't let your anger get to you!" Hinata called out to him from the distance, breaking him from his rage.

Naruto turned towards her dazedly, not sure what she was talking about for a moment until he gazed back at Ryota and saw how injured he truly was. Part of his lip had been busted in and from the looks of it, his nose was broken too.

Naruto's eyes widened as a small trickle of Ryota's blood fell onto his slightly bruised hands. He had punched him so hard that he had blacked out.

'_What the; did I…did I do this?' _Naruto thought in horror, attempting to shake Ryota awake in vain.

'_Of course you did this Naruto. He deserved it after taunting you like that; I'm glad you finally listened to me for once and proved you're not a wimp.' _Kurama answered back with a snort.

"No…damn it. Why did I rise to your bait again?" Naruto muttered to himself angrily, just as he felt a hand gently touch his shoulder.

Naruto flinched back at the touch, but calmed down a little when he realized it was Hinata. "N-Naruto, what happened? I was only gone for a moment and the second I turned around I saw you smash Ryota's face in…'

"I don't know how to explain it. He kept making fun of me and…" Naruto choked out, but trailed off at Hinata's worried expression. There was nothing he could honestly say to her that would make up for his actions really.

Beside them, whispers from the spectators who had seen the beginnings of the fight started to grow louder. "Did you see how that blonde haired kid knocked out that guy? What's his problem?" One man asked with a scowl.

"I don't know, but delinquents like him need to be off the streets and in either jail or solitary confinement away from the public!" Another woman hissed out.

Hinata frowned at their words, squeezing Naruto's shoulder in reassurance. She knew Naruto had to have a good reason for his behavior, even if no one else would believe him.

Meanwhile, Naruto felt a familiar pang in his chest at each onlooker's statement. He was used to being mistaken for a petty criminal at times when he went shopping around the city, but he could never get used to the hateful remarks people always whispered behind his back when they thought he wasn't listening.

'_They make a good point anyways, the scent and presence of Ryota's blood is on me all because I let his insults get to me…' _Naruto mused, brushing Hinata's hand off him gently.

"I'm sorry for causing you this trouble again Hinata. Maybe you really should just stay away from me like what your family wants." Naruto grumbled, walking away from the scene as the crowd yelled for him to come back and pay for his deed.

"Wait Naruto, you don't need to leave; I know you must have a good reason for what you did!" Hinata cried out softly.

Hinata sighed as Naruto only continued to further disappear out of view. The last thing she desired was to go back to the days when she could only pine after Naruto from a distance, fantasizing over what if scenarios. Not when she had finally made all these small connections with him over the past few weeks.

Hinata was about to try and run after him until Hiroshi suddenly pulled her back in harshly by the arm. "Don't go after that boy! Did you not see what he just did to Ryota; he could end up doing that to you if you continue to hang out him! I don't understand what you even see in a guy like that."

Hinata urged herself to voice her disagreement with that, but Hiroshi had already moved to pick up Ryota and gently place him on his back.

"Let's head back home for now. This so called 'date' has been a disaster anyways." He muttered out.

Hinata gazed back in the direction Naruto had walked off in before sadly nodding her head. She hadn't even gotten the chance to hear his side of the story.

~**X~**

Naruto had moved from walking at a relatively slow pace to a brisk one as soon as he was away from the park. The last thing he could bear seeing at the moment was Hinata's look of pain over why he had assaulted Ryota in the first place.

'_I don't see why you're even upset with yourself over this. He baited you into hitting him and you rose to it; I see nothing wrong with that." _Kurama stated dully.

'_Would you just shut up and leave me alone for once?! I don't need your damn sympathy when you're the one who caused me to be in this situation!' _Naruto snapped back.

Kurama chuckled at his response, but did as he wanted by receding back into the depths of his mind for now. Naruto brushed away some sweat from his face as he rushed back home. Upon arrival back at the apartment, he let out a small sigh of relief that Jiraiya was away somewhere.

It probably wouldn't be too long though before Jiraiya heard from someone on the events that had unfolded in the park. Jiraiya kept tabs on any new rumors around the city; _**especially**_ those that involved him.

Naruto walked over to his room and glanced over his ragged appearance in the mirror. The clean shirt and jacket he had managed to luck out finding in the back of his closet had become dirty and disheveled with blood and sweat.

"I've got to get this cleaned before Jiraiya finds out." Naruto mumbled, rapidly pulling off the items and taking them to the washing machine. After mixing in a combination of other dirty clothes to better explain why he was suddenly cleaning and finding a new pair of a clean shirt and jeans, Naruto quietly sat down on his bed.

The rush he had felt in taking his anger out on Ryota had now cooled and left him with bitter sting of what he would have to deal with the near future. Perhaps because of his actions Hinata would be unable to tutor him anymore or even be near him. How would he explain that to Tsunade when she had such high hopes for him to graduate on time?

Jiraiya would definitely scold him and keep a better eye on his actions, more than likely informing his teachers to do the same. His freedoms would be cut short by having earlier curfews and he could even get cut from the basketball team for his behavior.

'_All in all, it wasn't worth it. Ryota may be been knocked out cold, but he's definitely going to get the better end of the deal with all the care and attention he'll get. Not to mention Hinata will more than likely begin to like him more.' _Naruto concluded with a sigh.

There had to be someone he could turn to for advice besides just Tsunade and Jiraiya; none of their efforts had really improved his situation with Kurama for very long. His friends wouldn't be able to understand these constant mental battles he had with Kurama either, so who would that leave him with?

Naruto warily got off his bed as a thought occurred to him. Years ago, he and Jiraiya had went to a variety of therapists to better help him deal with Kurama before they both gave up on the idea altogether. Now that he was reflecting more on it, one name did particularly stick out to him even though Jiraiya stated he was the worst therapist they had gone to and that it had been a mistake to even see him.

'_What was his name again? Orochi something…oh yeah; it was Orochimaru! I don't even know if he still lives in this city though and I can't recall why Jiraiya said he was bad either…' _ Naruto pondered, brushing through the city's phone book for any sign of his name.

It took about 10 minutes of turning through the pages until Naruto finally saw his name. For a moment, Naruto considered simply putting the phone book back down and pretending the thought had never occurred. Jiraiya had stopped him for seeing this guy with good reason he assumed, but that was years ago and right now he wanted to get his frustrations off his mind as soon as possible. '_What Jiraiya doesn't know won't hurt him; he still thinks I'm on that date after all.'_

"I wonder if this number even still works." Naruto mumbled, starting to punch each digit into his phone.

~**X**~

Hiashi sighed as he watched Hiroshi gently lay Ryota down on one of their guest room beds. "Alright, one of you needs to explain to me exactly what happened again."

"Sir, all of this happened due to that punk kid Naru-"Hiroshi was abruptly cut off by Hinata raising her hand to stop him.

"Please let me explain the situation with my father alone Hiroshi." Hinata gently requested.

Hiroshi glanced back towards Hiashi who scoffed before nodding his head in approval for him to leave.

Hinata nervously twiddled her thumbs as the two of them stepped away from the room and out onto the nearby patio. An eerie silence enveloped them as Hinata quietly watched a few fish swim in their nearby reflection pond.

Hiashi eventually cleared his throat to get her attention. "Why do you continue to defy my orders by seeing that boy? Did you even think to try to get to know Ryota better before you decided to invite Naruto along too?"

"Naruto isn't the type of boy you think he is. Why do you continue to judge him for no good reason?" Hinata countered back.

Hiashi rubbed his forehead in aggravation, why was Hinata making things so difficult? "Listen, I know you may have developed feelings for Naruto, but he has a troubling history you have no idea about."

When Hinata had made no response back, he decided to continue on. "Naruto has a disturbed mind that could lead him to have a breakdown at any moment, just like how you saw today. Continuing to spend time around him is like being near a ticking time bomb waiting for it to blow. I don't want you to willingly put yourself in danger; you understand that, right?

Hinata mulled over his words silently, gently reaching out to grip his hand. "Father, I do understand what you are saying, but at the same time you must know that I'm ready to face any actions that come from loving him."

Hiashi furrowed his brows at that. '_I don't understand how she can say she 'loves' that boy knowing what he just did. At least for the moment though, I've temporarily separated them by bringing in Ryota…'_

Hiashi shook his head, standing back up. "You cannot bring Naruto back into this home anymore. I'll honor your wish to still tutor him, but it must be elsewhere and _**only**_ for an hour or you will face a punishment. In the meantime, check on your fiancé to make sure he's okay."

Hinata scowled at his use of the word fiancé. She and Ryota were far from being a couple; let alone one engaged to be married.

'_It seems like he's still asleep; I'm sure Naruto wouldn't have hit him without a reason though. I need to find out the truth about what happened.' _Hinata pondered, watching as Ryota stirred.

Ryota slowly opened his eyes before wincing in pain. "Ugh, where am I?"

"You're at the Hyuga manor; Hiroshi carried you here after you triggered Naruto's temper." Hinata answered.

Ryota arched an eyebrow, sitting up slightly as he adjusted to his surroundings. "I triggered his temper? All I was doing was a little joking around with him before he slugged me!"

Hinata resisted the urge to slap the smirk off his face. "Don't play around with me Ryota! What did you say that set Naruto off?"

Ryota gently patted his bandaged nose and cheek. "Huh, you certainly are a lot feistier now than earlier back at the park when you were acting so bashful. What I basically told him was that your family preferred me over him and I'm right, aren't I?"

Hinata bit her lip at that, knowing it was the truth. "Still…you didn't have to mess with Naruto like that by bringing it up. You know I like him."

Ryota chuckled, moving to brush a stray hair away from her face. "You may like him right now, but feelings can change."

Hinata moved back with a blush, feeling uncomfortable all over again. "I-I won't fall for any games or tricks you try to play on me!"

"Who said I was messing with you? You could at least try to honor your family's wishes by getting to know me better." Ryota stated calmly.

Hinata shook her head, stepping away from the bed to go. "As long as I have feelings for Naruto, the most we can be is just friends."

Hinata didn't miss the brief grumbling of Ryota calling her foolish as she left. Maybe she was acting a bit reckless by still trusting Naruto, but he was worth it.

~**X**~

"Is there a Naruto Uzumaki here?" Kabuto questioned aloud. Naruto nodded his head, walking over to the front desk and handing him the filled out paperwork for new visitors.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses slightly with a smile, accepting the papers. "Orochimaru will see you now; he's the second door on your left. Don't worry; you've come to a good place. Orochimaru has helped many other boys around your age in the past."

'_That actually makes me feel a bit more disturbed. This whole area is giving me the creeps with the vibe it gives off. Coming here on a whim probably wasn't my best idea...' _Naruto thought, observing the bizarre snake wallpaper and dim lights around the room.

Still though, he had already filled out the papers so he could at the most listen and see if this guy was really worth it.

"You must be Mr. Uzumaki, right? What brings you into my office today?" A voice asked, startling Naruto from his musings.

Naruto peered over at Orochimaru and swallowed uncomfortably. He had such an unusually pale face that held a mischievous smirk like he was trying to read his thoughts.

"Err; well it's a bit hard to explain, but I've kind of been dealing with this voice in my head that compels me to do bad things." Naruto explained.

Orochimaru nodded his head, scribbling a few notes down. "And how long has this voice been in your head for? Did it just appear recently?"

Naruto shook his head, tapping his head to remember. "I would say he's been with me pretty much since I was a kid. I think it could be something that runs in my family because I know my mother had this issue too."

"Yes, it is true that certain mental disorders can be passed down genetically. Tell me, how have you dealt with his attempts to make you do these 'bad' things in the past?" Orochimaru questioned.

"Mostly try to ignore him really; I mean when I listen to him I lose control of myself and end up hurting people close to me."Naruto replied with a shrug.

"Hmm, so it seems like you let all his talking build up and anger you until eventually, you unleash it in one big blow up when it becomes unbearable. That isn't healthy behavior; perhaps you should actually clearly think about the things this voice wants you to do and see if they really are as bad as you make them out to be." Orochimaru described.

'_I like the way this guy talks! If you would pay attention to the things I said, I would probably bother you less often and you would be happier.' _Kurama urged him on.

Naruto scratched his head awkwardly. Nobody had ever told him to listen to Kurama, mainly because Kurama usually only suggested horrible options. On the other hand, not having to hear his voice mock him or keep him up at night would be nice…

"I can tell you're still on the fence about this. Tell you what, I'll write out a prescription for a type of drug that can help lessen hearing this guy's voice. I think you're old enough to decide whether you want to take it or not, okay?" Orochimaru advised with a grin.

Naruto slowly nodded his head, watching warily as Orochimaru filled out a note and handed it to him. "If you have any other questions, feel free to call or stop by again."

'_I doubt that will happen!' _Naruto thought, feeling an uncomfortable shiver run down his back. The faster he was back at home, the faster he could forget about this whole ordeal ever happening.

Kabuto chuckled as he watched Naruto practically run out of the office. "You prescribed him the usual medication, right? It might be hard for him to get it considering that drug's controversial nature."

Orochimaru nodded his head with a smirk, licking his lips excitedly. "Don't worry about that; you know a majority of my spies work within the major businesses of this city. It's been to long since Jiraiya last brought that kid in, but I don't forget cases like his. Now we just have to wait and see if he'll actually take it. I'm sure he will though; it's been too long since I've messed with a broken mind."

"Hey, you're back already?! I thought I wouldn't be seeing you come home until midnight!" Jiraiya said with a chuckle, peering over at Naruto from the couch as he came back into the apartment.

Naruto laughed weakly in return, clutching the prescription within his pocket tightly. "Ah, Hinata had some business come up at home so we had to end it early."

"Oh, that's too bad. You at least didn't let that other guy she was supposed to be with get in the way though, did you?"

'_He definitely doesn't need to worry about that. You certainly took care of him alright.' _Kurama chuckled out.

Naruto fought back a scowl at Kurama's remark as Jiraiya prodded on. "I noticed you put in some laundry; it's odd for you to want to do anything chore related on the weekend."

"Yeah, I know; my clothes got a little dirty on the walk back here so I thought I would just get it over with and take care of cleaning it and the rest of my other messy clothes." Naruto lied.

"Where you were just now though? You left the stuff in the washer without even putting them in the dryer before you went out." Jiraiya asked suspiciously.

"I went to get a quick snack from the store; I wasn't gone for that long." Naruto said quickly, pulling out the wrapper from a chocolate bar he had actually bought days ago.

Jiraiya seemed a bit skeptical for a moment longer before nodding his head. "Don't go spending all your money on junk food now! You'll soon need to be buying that Hyuga girl gifts too!"

Naruto nodded his head, letting out a nervous sigh once he was safe and alone back in his room. He never usually tried to lie to Jiraiya about his issues, but he was almost an adult now. He would need to start learning how to handle Kurama on his own soon.

'_Nice job lying to the old man like that! It's easy for him to trust you since he thinks you're such a good boy." _Kurama taunted.

Naruto growled under his breathe, fishing out the crumpled prescription from his pocket. All it said on the paper was MDMA for auditory hallucinations 20 micrograms twice per day; take one once in the morning and one before going to bed.

'_You know, I'm curious to see if this drug will actually work even though I've never heard of it. I haven't tried using any medications in the past though I bet I won't have to hear your damn voice for a week, maybe even a month if I take just one!' _Naruto stated internally.

'_Heh, do you honestly think one little pill will get rid of me that easily after all the options you've tried in past? You can go ahead and try though; I'm willing to bet it won't.' _Kurama sneered back.

"I accept your bet." Naruto mumbled, sneaking out through his window to go to the closest pharmacy.

~**X**~

"Hey Hinata, have you seen Naruto? I know he was here this morning, but Kiba told me he didn't show up for basketball practice in the afternoon." Sakura asked.

Hinata shook her head, closing back her textbook as class ended for the day. '_I hope he's not feeling down based on what happened this past weekend. He never replied to any of the texts or calls I tried to send him on Sunday.'_

Sakura frowned at that, twirling her pink her hair in worry. "This isn't good if even you don't know where he is. If that idiot continues to skip classes, he'll end up not even graduating!"

"I hope he didn't get in another fight or something…" Hinata mumbled, trying to think of Naruto's favorite places to hang out.

"Alright, since school is out now; we can split up to try to search for him. You try Ichiraku Ramen and Ino and I will try that basketball court he and Sasuke sometimes like to play at." Sakura suggested.

Hinata silently agreed, grabbing her backpack from her locker and heading out. The fact that Naruto had decided to leave in the middle of the day made her nervous. Where was he even going without telling anyone?

Hinata passed by Ichiraku Ramen and sighed when Teuchi and Ayame informed her they hadn't seen Naruto all day. The next area she could think of trying was the 24-hr convenience store she knew he frequented.

Just as Hinata approached the store, she caught a brief flash of orange out of the corner of her eye. Upon closer inspection, she could see Naruto wearing his usual favorite shirt further down the path.

'_I found him! He doesn't look too upset about anything either.' _Hinata thought happily, running through the crowds to get towards him.

Once Hinata got closer to Naruto, she realized he actually wasn't alone and was surrounding by a group of people.

Hinata blinked at the group's odd attire of long black overcoats with red clouds on the sides. It seemed like they all were a part of the some gang.

"U-Um Naruto, where have you been since lunch?" Hinata called out him nervously, stepping back when all of their eyes suddenly turned on her.

Naruto only chose to send her an odd wild grin, but his blue eyes appeared duller than normal and lacked the usual spirit she was used to.

"Naruto, let's get going. We have business to attend to." One of the members said, already starting to walk off.

Naruto nodded his head giddily, following after them without another word.

Hinata watched them leave; eyes widened in fear at his unusual behavior. She was losing Naruto all over again to another potential problem.

~x~


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: **_Thanks for all the continued feedback, favorites and follows; I'm always open to any suggestions. Thanks for reading! :)

**Rin Kagamine: **Sure, I wouldn't mind given you some advice, if you have a fanfiction account you can always PM me if you want!

**Chapter 9: Don't be Lonely**

"He's been drugged." Hinata concluded under her breathe, numbly watching as Naruto's 'new' friends disappeared into the crowds.

Hinata took a step forward to follow them, but one of the members turned back to send her a sharp glare. Hinata froze as the woman's piercing amber eyes met hers.

"Don't follow us." She mouthed to her before turning back around to follow her gang. Whoever these people were, they already knew about her connection to Naruto.

'_I can't just sit here and let this happen, I need to tell the others!' _Hinata thought anxiously, pulling out her phone and heading in the direction of Sakura and Ino.

About 30 minutes later, Hinata finally met up with the two of them outside of their favorite bistro.

"Hey Hinata, any luck in finding Naruto? He wasn't at the basketball courts." Sakura questioned, starting to grow a bit worried for where he went off to.

Hinata nodded her head, catching her breathe before she spoke up again. "I saw him with this group of people with long black overcoats. I think he might be under the influence of some medication; he wasn't acting like himself."

Sakura rubbed her chin thoughtfully while Ino gained a concerned look. "We can't jump to conclusions yet, I don't think Naruto is stupid enough to fall in line with some random gang or start taking drugs." Ino mumbled.

"Actually, he is. He can be pretty gullible when it comes to certain things." Sasuke said from behind them.

Hinata blinked in confusion at Sasuke's sudden appearance while Sakura grinned happily. "You know, I didn't think you were going to show up! Weren't you in the middle of after school practice with the others?"

Sasuke shrugged, brushing his sweat off onto his uniform. "I got permission from coach Gai to leave early. Besides, we need that idiot to start coming back to practice if we're going to beat those guys from that city constantly covered with mist."

"Um, not to be rude, but why did you think it was a good idea to invite Sasuke?" Hinata whispered to Sakura.

"Yeah Sakura, are you sure you didn't just invite him to leave Hinata and I to search for Naruto alone?" Ino added in with a smirk.

Sakura blushed slightly under accusations. "No! Geez, even though they don't really act like it, Sasuke and Naruto are friends! He might have a better idea of that gang you were talking about earlier too Hinata."

"So, are you guys done whispering about me? I still want to get in some training before the sun sets." Sasuke asked in annoyance from behind them.

Hinata gripped her skirt nervously under Sasuke's bored stare. "Um, have you ever heard of or possibly seen a gang that liked to wear long black overcoats with red cloud designs on them?'

Sasuke said nothing for a moment, eyes narrowing as a thought came back to him. "I have an idea of what group you're talking about, but it surprises me that they would want Naruto of all people to be a part of their gang…"

"Do you think they may be trying to get money or some prized item from him? Though I'm not sure Naruto has anything substantial to offer them." Ino questioned.

Sasuke shook his head, turning back towards Hinata to send her a serious look. "How much do you like Naruto? Be honest."

Hinata blushed at the sudden question, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "W-Well I like him a lot; I could even say I love him. I know I don't want him to get involved with this group when he already has enough problems in his life!"

Sakura and Ino Awwed at her answer while Sasuke only rolled his eyes. "Listen, this group's name is called the Akatsuki. They're known for being involved in many drug smuggling actions and theft. It's possible one of their ringleaders got Naruto hooked on some drug to get him to their bidding or explore his psyche."

"How do you know all of this Sasuke?" Sakura muttered in shock.

Sasuke ran a hand through his onyx black hair with a sigh. "My brother used to be a member of their gang; he may or may not even still be in it since I haven't talked to him in years."

Hinata trembled nervously at Sasuke's description. It was no wonder he had questioned her affection towards Naruto. He wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting into to find him.

"Hinata, if you love that idiot like you say you do, would you be ready to possibly infiltrate their hideout to make sure they don't drive him into a life of crime and addiction?" Sasuke asked critically.

"Hold on Sasuke! What exactly are you thinking of doing-"Sakura spoke up frantically, but was suddenly cut off by Hinata speaking up again.

"Yes, I would be ready; just tell me the time and place to meet you." Hinata answered back calmly.

~**X**~

'_I still don't hear his voice! This is the first time in years I haven't heard that stupid fox's voice for an entire day!' _Naruto thought gleefully, excitedly keeping up with the group as they headed back to their hideout.

"Don't get too used to that high Naruto; it will be going down in the next couple of hours unless you take another hit." Konan said next to him, arching an eyebrow at his goofy expression. '_I don't get what Orochimaru said he sees in such a young kid, but I guess we have to accommodate him for now.'_

Naruto only brushed off her warning with a laugh. Nobody could bring him down from the joy he was feeling at the moment, even if it was meant to be only temporary. He couldn't remember everything that had happened since he had taken the first two pills earlier, but it did make him regret that he had waited years to try using medications to block out Kurama's voice.

_**~FLASHBACK~**_

"So, all I need to take is one of these tiny blue pills, huh?" Naruto asked aloud, carefully reading the prescription label twice to make sure.

'_You're only setting yourself up for disappointment when you find out you'll still be able to hear me.' _Kurama sneered out.

"It sounds like to me you're nervous about that possibility actually happening!" Naruto grumbled back, grabbing his water bottle off his desk to swallow down the pill.

As Naruto got ready for school, he did his best in waiting for the drug's effects to come in as Kurama continued to harass him. It was only by the time Naruto was in third period did he realize he could no longer hear Kurama's taunts.

'_I know the medication label said only take twice a day, but I don't want this morning's pill to wear off just yet…' _Naruto thought giddily, reaching into his backpack for the container as he snuck away from the crowds into a bathroom stall.

A burning sensation briefly spread throughout his chest as he ingested the second pill, making him bite his lip to ward off the pain for the reward that would come soon after.

"I think it's finally starting to take effect." Naruto mumbled to himself a couple of minutes later, feeling a renewed rush of exhilaration and warmth.

In the distance, Naruto could faintly make out the sound of the warning bell signaling the next class was about to begin. There was no way he could go back to class just yet, not when he probably looked as high as he felt at the moment.

'_Crap, if I'm late again though; I could face a penalty at practice or worse, my tardiness will get me reported to Tsunade and Jiraiya.' _Naruto realized with a scowl, sliding off the wall of the bathroom to head back into the halls.

Naruto dazedly tried to regain focus as glanced around for any teachers. Maybe he could get some fresh air first before he made the sprint to his class. That would at least give him some time to think up some excuse to tell Iruka for why he was late.

Naruto grinned happily as his he felt a cool brush of wind hit him. Would anybody really care or notice if he decided to skip school right now? The thought of leaving was definitely more alluring than being bored in class.

'_I don't have to be gone for that long…I can make a quick stop at the convenience store to get a snack and then be back by the time lunch rolls around.' _Naruto considered with a grin, only pausing in his walk forward when he suddenly heard his name called out.

Hey, are we even sure this is the right place? I thought Orochimaru said this Naruto kid went to the high school on the other side of town." Kisame asked aloud.

Konan nodded her head with a sigh, glancing back down at the photo Orochimaru had given them of him. "I'm not sure why we're even listening to him in the first place. We've never taken orders from Orochimaru before, so why are we now?"

"Why are you even looking for me is my question." Naruto cut in, getting the entire group's attention.

"Heh, we'll I'll be damned; the kid ended up coming to us. I knew doing this task would lead to some quick cash." Kakuzu mused with a smirk.

Konan chose to study Naruto for a moment to confirm it was really him. "You went to visit Orochimaru the other day for a medication to stop the invading thoughts of a certain voice, correct?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed at that; wasn't information like that supposed to be kept private and confidential? "Who wants to know?"

Instead of answering Naruto's question, a darker haired blonde stepped forward holding up a bag of multicolored pills and tablets. "There's no need to be so suspicious of us; we know what you're going through after all. What with the way people immediately degrade you and cast you off as a nobody. We've all also interacted with Orochimaru just like you have."

"To get to the main point, you enjoy the drug he gave you, right? We can get you more of it if you hang out with us for only a few hours." Another man spoke up.

Naruto blinked in shock at the other man's appearance. It was like looking at an older Sasuke all of a sudden. Naruto moved from the man's gaze towards the others; they all seem intent on getting him to come with them even if he chose to say no.

Naruto pushed back the nauseous feeling in his stomach as he sent the group a skittish grin. He had never met people who could potentially have similar mental issues to his. They probably could understand his frustrations and times of discomfort, even though his heart was racing with a mix of excitement and worry for choosing to step forward to follow them.

'_Naruto, you don't have to leave yet!' _Hinata's voice rang out in his mind, causing Naruto to briefly glance back towards the school to see if she was there.

"Naruto, hurry up! We can't stand around here for much longer unless you want security or a teacher to see us!" Deidara snapped out, shoving his shoulder to get his attention.

'_Guess I was just hearing things.' _Naruto concluded with a frown, seeing no sign of the violet haired girl by the front doors.

~_**FLASHBACK ENDS~**_

~**X**~

"Alright, explain what's going on Neji! I'm not going to stop bugging you until tell me who that new guy is that keeps bugging Hinata over there!" Tenten hissed, pointing her finger towards the two sitting a few tables down from them in the cafeteria.

Neji sighed, calmly setting his drink down. "Tenten, I've already explained it to you. He's the new transfer student Ryota Harada."

Tenten slammed her fists on the table, causing a few students around her to jump back in shock. "Damn it, I know that already! I'm asking why you played a role in trying to set Hinata up with him!"

Neji casually patted her hand to relax her. "Tenten, it's a complicated business matter that would be too hard to explain. Ryota is Hinata's future fiancé, whether she or you and her friends like it. Naruto hasn't even been coming to school lately anyways; a sign of his true colors in my opinion. You should focus your attention more on finishing the rest of your lunch."

Tenten angrily pushed his hand away and got up to leave to head back over to Sakura and others. "Were you able to get some information out of him?" Sakura inquired.

Tenten only muttered out some curses, giving Sakura and Ino their answer.

"I feel so bad for Hinata, she looks so uncomfortable with the way that creep keeps trying to touch her!" Ino huffed out; watching as Hinata distractedly stared out the window as Ryota attempted to talk to her.

"There isn't much we can really do at the moment since I heard that apparently Hinata's dad expressly asked principal Tsunade to make sure Hinata was the one to give Ryota a tour of the school to get used to being here." Sakura explained with a pout.

'_Tomorrow night at 11pm. That was when Sasuke suggested we try and go to the Akatsuki's main hideout. It's a bit odd that he knows so much about their gang considering he said he has a strained relationship with his brother, but at least I wouldn't be going in alone…' _Hinata pondered with a sigh.

Ryota decided to clear his throat loudly to startle her from her thoughts. "Hinata, did you hear what I said?"

Hinata blinked in confusion, turning back around to face him. "Huh? I'm sorry; I hadn't been really paying attention."

Ryota scowled for a moment at Hinata's ignoring of him, but started to chuckle once he saw her puzzled look. "It's okay; I guess I can't stay mad at you for long when you're sending me such a cute confused facial expression!"

Hinata laughed weakly at the compliment, fiddling with her fingers to distract herself. She knew Ryota meant well in trying to form a friendship with her, but she only felt uncomfortable and a little annoyed at his attempts to flirt with her.

"I was just saying that I think it would be a good idea for us to work on our homework together. We actually share many of core subjects together besides a few electives. If either of us were confused on a question, we could quickly ask the other for help and check over each other's answers." Ryota asked. '_And it would be a way for you to finally get your mind off of Naruto for once…' _He added in mentally.

"Well, I'm actually used to doing my homework alone really. It's not like any of the assignments we've gotten recently are hard." Hinata muffled out softly.

Ryota arched an eyebrow at her answer. "Hinata, I'm getting tired of the constant excuses you give me to not spend at least _**some **_time together. What exactly are you hiding from me?"

Hinata could feel her face started to redden under his scrutinizing stare. She needed to come up with some answer fast to appease him.

"I-It's because tonight I'll be tutoring Naruto!" Hinata blurted out, internally berating herself for not sounding confident in her lie. '_I'm just burying myself deeper into trouble…'_

"Oh, really? I had heard from some of your friends that you did start tutoring sessions with him before our engagement happened. I'm surprised you even still feel like you'll be safe around him. I'm assuming your father already knows about your plans?" Ryota questioned, doubting her honesty.

"Yes, he already knows about this arrangement I have made with Naruto. I'll be going by his house around 7 pm for only an hour. I don't want to disturb father from the new paperwork he has been getting lately, so do you think you could tell him or Hiroshi where I'll be at if they ask for me?" Hinata asked, casting him a small smile.

Ryota withheld his urge to grunt at Hinata's fake smile. They both obviously knew she was lying to go off somewhere else and he knew he couldn't stop her.

He could always tell her father about what she was really doing and further damage their relationship, but there really was no need to do that. '_If only Hinata could see is Naruto's behavior when he's in the midst of a mental breakdown. I'm sure shed lose her adoration of him then…'_

Hinata quietly excused herself from the table to head back over to her friends. Fortunately, Sasuke was also sitting close by, half-paying attention to Sakura's suggestions of new dating spots they could go to.

Tenten was the first to notice Hinata's presence, quickly noticing her worried look. "Hinata, what's wrong? What did that ass back there say something to upset you?!"

Hinata shook her head, sending Tenten a gentle smile that her problem didn't concern him as she turned to look at Sasuke. "Err, Sasuke? We might need to make a change of plans regarding Naruto…"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

"We need to go after him tonight instead of tomorrow." Hinata nearly whispered out.

~**X**~

Naruto clutched his chest in an ill attempt to stop its throbbing. The effects of the ecstasy pills had worn off hours ago and left him with a multitude of side effects.

"Should we call it a night for the experiments or continue with Orochimaru's notes?" Konan muttered to Itachi, the group currently standing in a circle around him.

Itachi gazed over Naruto's exhausted state before nodding his head. "He's taken enough drugs in for a 24 hour period. It's odd that he hasn't even passed out yet from them. We should continue where we left on in around 3-4 days when all the drugs should be out of his system to start anew again."

'_Wait, where are they going? Are they really just going to leave me here; I thought they wanted to be friends…' _Naruto thought woozily, his muscles tightening when he attempted to get up from the ground to go after them.

'_Stupid, why the hell would you think they wanted to be friends?! They only used you as a guinea pig to conduct their drug experiments on. You might have been able to block me out, but that was indeed only temporary.' _Kurama said with a snort.

Naruto had no response for that, flashes of the past few hours and days spinning through his head. Kurama's return only served to prove that reality had brought him back from the happy illusion he had been in. Why else would he have let his emotions foolishly get in the way of logic once again?

"Oh, that's right; it's because I'm a naïve idiot." Naruto cursed himself, glancing forlornly out the nearby open window towards the direction of his apartment. The warm night air blowing in providing a temporary comfort to the chills he was beginning to feel in the dampness of the abandoned warehouse they had gone to.

"I think it's safe for us to go in; they've left the area." A familiar voice echoed into the area. Naruto weakly turned his head towards the voice, stunned when he saw Sasuke along with others dressed in all black outfits.

"Whatcha doing here; how did you even know I was here?" Naruto slurred out.

Sasuke gritted his teeth at Naruto's messy appearance. He reeked of a mix of sweat and vomit from what he had been exposed to, his clothes partially torn and in disarray. "Idiot, how do you get yourself into a situation like this?"

'_Oh Naruto, what did they do to you?' _Hinata pondered in stunned silence, retrieving the ointment and bandages from her pocket to start taking care of his wounds.

"Ino just sent me a text that she sees some guys matching the Hinata's description of the gang not too far away. It's best we leave this area quickly and inform the police of this warehouse." Sakura said from behind them.

Sasuke nodded his head, watching as Hinata helped Naruto to his feet. "Hinata, you know the way to Naruto's apartment, right? You can finish taking care of his injuries at his place."

"Yes, I do, but what are you and the others going to do?" Hinata inquired nervously. She didn't feel right leaving them to deal with the gang if they were still close by.

Sasuke only scowled, he could feel that they were all still being watched. "We're all going to take a separate route home to be on the safe side. Just get Naruto out of here quick."

Hinata felt the urge to question his decision, but nodded her head in agreement. Her priority was to take care of Naruto for now.

~**X**~

"Don't worry Naruto; we're almost back to your home." Hinata said softly, glad that the moon and post lights were helping her see where she was going.

'_This operation we came up with took far too long to do though, I said I would only be gone for an hour and it's already a little after 10 o clock now. I'm sure I felt my phone buzzing multiple times too.' _Hinata reflected with a sigh.

Hinata carefully walked to help Naruto stand up straighter. Even with the trouble and hassles she was going to face soon, she couldn't help but feel relieved that they had gotten to Naruto in time.

"Naruto, do you have the key to your apartment?" Hinata asked, poking his cheek to keep him awake.

Naruto sluggishly opened his eyes before rummaging through his pocket and handing them to her. Hinata took them and moved as quickly as she could in getting Naruto to his room and checking to see if anyone else was home.

'_It's so quiet in this building; I thought it would be louder since it's on a busier side of the city.' _Hinata mused, grabbing a washcloth and some blankets to help make Naruto comfortable.

Naruto watched as Hinata bandaged his wounds cautiously, wincing slightly when she had to use rubbing alcohol to clean a deeper cut on his shoulder.

"I'm all done Naruto; I should get heading back to my home since it's gotten late. You should take the next day off to recuperate." Hinata stated gently.

"Hold on, you're not going to leave me alone too, are you?" Naruto questioned anxiously, grabbing her by the arm before she could get up to go.

"A-Ah, I only want you to get plenty of rest is all! I-I'm sure you would get better sleep if I wasn't here." Hinata stuttered out with a blush at his action.

Naruto slowly pulled her back towards him, paying no mind to Hinata's increasing flushed face when he had practically pulled her into his bed too. "Stay here with me for a while, okay?"

Hinata observed as Naruto sent her one last silly tipsy grin before he leaned his head against a pillow to sleep, his breathing finally easing into a normal pattern.

'_I guess it's good that Naruto is starting to relax, even if we're in such an awkward position, I won't leave him alone for tonight.' _Hinata thought with a smile, adjusting herself as best as she could in his arms without awakening him.

~x~


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: **_Thanks for the usual feedback as always; I appreciate and enjoy hearing from you all! Don't be afraid to leave a suggestion and thanks for reading! :)

**Chapter 10: Must Be Magic**

"Naruto, what the hell is going on?!" Jiraiya hissed in his ear angrily, stirring him from his sleep as he shook his shoulders roughly.

Naruto opened his blue eyes warily to send him a glare. "Ugh, can't your yelling wait until breakfast time? It's still like 3 in the morning or something geez."

Jiraiya ignored his complaint by moving to turn on his room lights, causing him to shut his eyes in annoyance. "Not only did you suddenly disappear on me for around the past 2 days, but you decided to come back in the middle of the night with a girl in tow too?!"

Naruto scratched his hair in confusion at his statement until he looked down and saw Hinata calmly curled up in his lap fast asleep. Naruto scooted back rapidly until his head hit the back of his wall in shock to see her; memories of last night still blurry as he tried to recall how he even got back to the apartment okay.

"Naruto, are you okay; do you still feel sick?" Hinata asked softly, starting to awaken due the noise and light.

"Err…well, not exactly." Naruto said, sending her a weak grin as he pointed behind them towards Jiraiya. Hinata followed his line of direction and immediately flushed when she saw Jiraiya watching them with an arched eyebrow.

"Heh, on any other occasion I might be okay with seeing you in such a compromising position, but considering you've been up to something Naruto…" Jiraiya trailed off with a sigh.

"Ah, please don't get too mad at Naruto! He was just-"Jiraiya cut Hinata off by holding his hand up to stop her.

"There's no need for you to explain yourselves right now. We can discuss this over breakfast once you too have gotten more sleep." Jiraiya stated, turning back off the lights and leaving them in the darkness once again.

Hinata quietly moved off of Naruto and shifted uncomfortably. "Um, I can go sleep on your sofa for the rest of the night if you want."

Naruto shook his head, hopping off his bed. "No, that's not necessary! You're the guest so you can sleep here while I'll take the couch."

'_Well, aren't you the gentleman? Are you trying to make up for your dumbass antics from over the past few days?' _Kurama questioned with a scoff.

"Are you sure? It's really not a big deal to me to sleep there." Hinata pressed on.

Naruto forced himself to grin against his returning migraine and Kurama's insults. "Of course it's no trouble to me! You deserve to get some rest after helping take care of me after all." '_It would help if I could even remember why I needed to be taken care of though…'_

Naruto moved to turn on his desk lamp to find the spare blankets he kept in his closet. After rummaging for a few minutes, he finally pulled out an orange comforter he usually only needed for the winter months.

"Here, you can use this if you possibly get cold. I know our thermostat sometimes likes to turn off and on spontaneously." Naruto said, handing her the quilt.

Hinata accepted it with a smile, feeling her cheeks heat up when Naruto ruffled her hair affectionately and whispered a quick good night in her ear. The presence of his scent remaining on the pillows and sheets he had been on only moments ago was going to make it impossible for her to get any more sleep tonight.

'_I don't deserve the nice things Hinata does for me. If she knew about Kurama…about the pills I took…she would without a doubt stop associating with me. I don't want that, so for now; I have to keep all of this a secret from her.' _Naruto thought, slowly closing his door behind him.

'_Ha Ha, and just how long do you think you can keep me hidden from her? Sooner or later she will find out the truth about your past and your stupid decisions and leave you alone for good.' _Kurama laughed out.

Naruto tightened his fists slowly as he lied down against the couch. His body still partially craved the energy of the remaining ecstasy pills he knew were in his backpack, but he could endure a night without them; not that he truly had much of a choice.

"Oh, don't worry fox; she won't find out about you. I'll make sure of that." Naruto muttered back sharply.

~**X**~

Jiraiya looked between Naruto and Hinata as they all sat in awkward silence over breakfast the following morning. It was still relatively dark outside at only a little past 6:30 with a tiny amount of sunlight creeping in through the closed blinds of the kitchen. The meager burnt toast and eggs Jiraiya had made for them at least partially curved the hunger Hinata had been beginning to feel from only relying on small leftover snacks from her backpack for meals.

Jiraiya eventually sighed and tapped his fingers against the wooden table to get their attention. "Alright, I guess I'll be the one starting things off. Hinata, I somehow managed to convince your dad that I distracted you last night with a bunch of stories and that's why you didn't come home on time, but I'm sure he didn't buy it. You should head back and try your best to clear things up with him."

Hinata nodded her head slowly, casting a side glance towards Naruto. "Would it be okay if I helped explain what actually happened last night? I know I can't provide you many details, but I don't feel it would be right for Naruto to face punishment alone."

Jiraiya shook his head; his gazed fixed on Naruto who was looking everywhere but at him. "No Hinata, you've done enough._**I**_want to talk to Naruto in private."

Hinata sighed gingerly and sent Naruto one last look and was surprised to see he was sending her a grin.

"Don't worry about me Hinata! I'll see you at school again…eventually." Naruto said with a chuckle.

Hinata smiled back softly and politely bowed before she left. A part of her wished she could have stayed a bit longer rather than face her father's disappointment in her once more.

Jiraiya waited until he was sure Hinata was out of earshot and down the hall before he reached into his pocket and showed Naruto a small container.

Naruto gulped anxiously as he stared at the object. Those were the exact same ecstasy pills he was sure he had hidden in the depths of his backpack.

"What are you doing with these?" Jiraiya asked simply.

Naruto was speechless for a moment before he scowled. "Why were you going through my stuff in the first place?"

"Just answer my question Naruto." Jiraiya retorted back, unfazed by his anger.

Naruto stared at the light blue tablets silently, feeling a mix of guilt and fury. When did Jiraiya even search his room; was he going to make him stop taking the pills?

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes when Naruto refused to answer him. "Obviously these pills must be important to you since you won't explain yourself. Guess I'll have to hold on to them then."

"What?! I was the one who paid for them though!" Naruto snapped out, rising from his seat to reach out for them.

"Yeah? Well, _**I'M **_the one who's your guardian and I'm not letting you get addicted to this crap." Jiraiya replied back easily, holding them out of reach.

Naruto watched in horror as Jiraiya took out the remaining pills and promptly lit a match to burn them, each pill sparking with a flickering gleam of light before turning to ash. Jiraiya casually pushed the charred pieces towards him with a smirk.

"Still want them?" He asked plainly, observing as Naruto pushed them to the ground and stomped them into dust.

"Damn it, you take things too far! I swear I'm burning your stupid porn magazines when I find wherever you hid them!" Naruto hissed out, leaving out the door and slamming it closed.

Jiraiya slumped in his chair as he read over the label of the medication's container. He wasn't sure why Naruto wanted to suddenly start taking drugs considering he had been so adamantly against them in the past.

'_This must have something to do with Kurama, I need to find the source of who wrote this prescription out for him before he goes out to try and get more.' _Jiraiya pondered, glancing over towards the old photo of Minato and Kushina.

Jiraiya laughed bitterly as he ran a hand through his spiky white hair. "Where did I go wrong in raising your son?"

~**X**~

Hinata more or less shouldn't have been shocked when she saw Ryota greeting her at the main entrance with a smug smile upon her return home.

"Long night I presume?" He asked coolly, watching as Hinata took off her shoes before going inside.

Hinata chose to simply nod her head, not sure if her voice would crack if she spoke due to her exhaustion. The house was oddly quiet even if it was still relatively early. She was used to hearing at least some of the maids getting breakfast started or hearing Neji spar in the training room once the sun came out.

"Um, where are father and the others?" Hinata asked softly, turning back to face him.

Ryota's grin widened even more at her question. "They're waiting for you in your room. All of them."

'_Do I want to know what that even means?' _Hinata thought, her stomach knotting in apprehension. Surely she would hopefully just face a lecture before he let her get ready for school. Her night had been chaotic enough already and Jiraiya had provided her with an alibi, even if it wasn't a very good one.

"It's about time you got home. Did you not hear your phone going off when we sent you all those texts and calls last night?" Hiashi demanded.

Hinata quietly shook her head, feeling uncomfortable with everyone's gaze on her. "I-I'm sorry for being late father. I lost track of time and I set my phone down so as not to be a distraction during the tutoring."

Ryota and Neji appeared displeased at her answer, while Hanabi silently signaled her she would ask for the real story later on. Hiashi studied Hinata's face carefully for any sign of lying, carefully tapping at a small bruise he noticed on her cheek.

"I suppose the most important thing is that you're okay. I know how Jiraiya can go on with his stories, so next time try to make your next session sometime earlier in the day, okay?" Hiashi stated sternly.

Hinata nodded her head hastily, her body beginning to relax. He hadn't pressured her for questions like she had expected him to, but that didn't mean he still wasn't suspicious.

"Alright, let's leave Hinata to get some rest now. She still has to attend to her studies at school and it would best for her to get a little more sleep in before she has to get ready." Hiashi announced, already heading out her door.

'_That went over a bit too well. He didn't seem mad at me at all; did Ryota or Neji already tell him the truth about what happened? No, how could they have? They weren't even there…' _Hinata speculated with a frown.

Hinata glanced around her room to see if anything was out of place. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary or missing from where she last put it. Hinata had only barely eased back into her bed until a passing thought made her sit back up abruptly.

'_They didn't find my sketchbook, did they? Oh, I hope it's still in the last place I put it!' _Hinata thought anxiously, pushing her textbooks and pens off her desk in a hurry.

Hinata bit her lip sadly when she eventually found her treasured sketchbook. The pages where she had done sketches of Naruto were either completely torn out or destroyed beyond recognition with blue and black ink.

Hinata blinked back the tears threatening to fall from her opal eyes. There was no point in trying to find out who was to blame for the incident when she had no proof to accuse anyone, but that didn't mean she couldn't use the damaged pages to create a new better design.

Hinata carefully took out each page of the ruined drawings and then tore out clean sheets of paper from a nearby notebook as she moved to grab her art pencils. Her love for drawing and Naruto were just the inspirations she could use to make her new announcement to the family.

~**X**~

"Stupid dirty old man; he didn't have to go and burn them in front of my face just to be an asshole!" Naruto growled out as he stomped to school.

'_You're better off without those little capsules anyways based on what they did to you. They prevented you from hearing my voice after all.' _Kurama mused with his usual snarky tone.

'_That was the point! All I need to do is come up with a better way to hide them…' _Naruto snapped back internally, already plotting out new hiding places.

"Heading to school so early? I didn't take you as the morning type Naruto." A voice said from his side.

Naruto turned warily towards the voice, slowly recognizing the man as Orochimaru's assistant from back when he had gone to his office.

Kabuto frowned when Naruto sent him a disinterested look. He was probably just experiencing withdrawal symptoms from the pills.

"So, how did the prescription work out for you? I heard from Orochimaru that you even met some of his past clients." Kabuto questioned, trying to start up a friendly conversation.

Naruto gritted his teeth; the one thing he hadn't forgotten from the past few hours was those so called 'clients' of his.

"Yeah, I met them all right, though I actually need to get going to school. I can't keep being late or cutting class." Naruto grumbled, lifting up his backpack for emphasis.

Kabuto narrowed his eyes at his quick change of topic before smirking as pulled out a card from his pocket.

"Well, if you ever need a refill from your last prescription; you know where to find us." Kabuto said calmly, pushing the card into his hands.

Kabuto observed as Naruto fiddled with the card for a moment before trudging away. Not even a few minutes later did he hear his phone buzz with the call he had been expecting.

"Did you meet up with him as planned?" Orochimaru asked.

Kabuto grinned deviously, stepping into an alleyway to avoid any passerby listening in. "Yes, it all went according to plan. He's a bit moody right now from his first doses though."

Orochimaru chuckled slightly at that. "Oh, that's normal. I already got the news from the Akatsuki that their first experimental trial on him was a success. I'm definitely going to enjoy getting to know Naruto much better as time goes on."

"Speaking of which, you aren't concerned about Jiraiya snooping around and eventually tracing this all back to you?" Kabuto inquired.

Orochimaru paused at the question, snickering as he played out different scenarios in his mind. "Hmm, while you do make a good point; it may be far too late for him to help Naruto by the time he does find out."

'_Surely you aren't actually considering going back to that freak…' _Kurama trailed off, annoyed when Naruto gave him no answer back as he changed into his uniform for morning practice.

"Hey Naruto, about time I saw your face again! You must have had some nasty stomach bug, huh?" Kiba yelled out to him from across the lockers.

'_What the hell is he talking about?' _Naruto thought with a puzzled look until he felt a stinging slap sharply hit his back. Naruto didn't even need to turn around to know that it was Sasuke who had struck him.

"Just go with what he said or do you want people to know what you've really been doing?" He muttered, moving past him to head to his own locker. Naruto glared at his retreating back for a moment, grudgingly agreeing it was best to say nothing.

Sasuke watched from the corner of his eye as Naruto went on to do his usual warm up exercises. He didn't seem out of it like he imagined he would be when only a few hours had passed since his apparent overdose; it was odd he even felt well enough to go to school instead of at least rest at home for a day or two. In the back of his mind, he could still hear his brother's words ring out to him.

'_I didn't expect you to be here little brother, trying to interfere with our plans. It's not like you'll be able to stop us from interacting with Naruto again, but I suppose I'll leave you and friends alone for tonight.'_

"He didn't even consider me a threat to his plans." Sasuke angrily hissed under his breathe, briefly broken from his thoughts when Gai blew his whistle.

"Naruto, do those push-ups again! It may be early, but you do have the advantage of being young and in shape!" Gai yelled out cheerfully.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow as Naruto grudgingly moved to do his push-ups again. Naruto might have been considered dumb or lazy when it came to many things, but he knew he had street smarts that allowed him to cleverly trick others at times.

'_The question is though, is he so oblivious that he'll fall for another one of the Akatsuki's plans or does he have his own ulterior motives in mind for why he even hung out with them in the first place?' _Sasuke asked himself with a scowl.

~**X**~

"It's finished." Hinata mumbled under her breathe, gazing proudly down at her work. She had used the past 4 days and nights secretly creating a collage of all the moments she had spent with Naruto, only allowing her friends small peeks at it and letting Hanabi know the true meaning behind the collage: that it would represent her breakaway from the family to follow her own desires.

Hinata turned to glance at her clock, letting out a sleepy yawn when she saw it was around 10:30pm. Perfect, she was right on time too.

A gentle tapping at her door made Hinata freeze until she recognized it was just Hanabi's trademark knock as usual.

"What are you doing up so late? You should be getting in as much sleep as you can before school tomorrow." Hinata scolded her quietly, watching as Hanabi moved to sit on her bed.

"How could I sleep knowing what you planned to do tonight; do you realize how angry father and the others are going to be?" Hanabi questioned.

Hinata opened her mouth to respond, but stopped herself when she saw how depressed Hanabi looked. Hinata slowly stood up from her desk and pulled her sister into a hug.

"This will only be temporary measure. Right now, I want to help Naruto from straying down the wrong path and the only thing I could think of right off the bat was trying to see how things are for him at home; it could partially be the reason why he does so bad at school. I also can't keep letting father and the others try to control my life by pulling constant schemes like they have been doing as of recent." Hinata explained.

"Naruto isn't your responsibility though! Why must you go to such lengths for him?" Hanabi harshly mumbled back.

'_Is there really any way I could explain it so that she could understand? I don't think Hanabi has ever been in love with anyone.' _Hinata pondered with a blush, shaking her head with a sigh.

The sound of footsteps in the distance made both Hinata and Hanabi look back towards the door. "I have to get going now or I'm sure I'll get cold feet. You'll see me off, right?"

Hanabi pouted before nodding her head with a small smile, grabbing her artwork off her desk. "Let's hang this up right outside the training hall!"

Hinata smiled back in agreement, reaching for the other side of her drawing along with some tape. The two of them tiptoed down the halls as quickly as possible until they reached the main entrance of the room.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Hanabi asked once more, scuffling her feet nervously against the wood floors, anyone could come out and catch them if they didn't hurry away from the scene.

Hinata nodded her head, admiring her drawing one last time before turning away and putting her shoes on while readjusting her tote bag and backpack. "Yes, let everyone know I'll be fine."

'_Well, at least Hinata is happy with her decision. That's one thing they can't take away from her." _Hanabi concluded, admiring Hinata's confidence to escape into the night alone. It wouldn't be until the following morning that the rest of the household realized she was gone.

"Hanabi, where has Hinata gone?! All she left was a drawing and with a small note attached saying she needed to take care of a matter than had been bothering her!" Hiashi asked in a rush over breakfast.

Hanabi moved her face into a troubled expression, just as how she and Hinata had practiced. "I'm not sure father. Perhaps she couldn't take the pressures you were putting on her life as of late." Hanabi stated calmly, eyeing Ryota and Neji from across the table.

Hiashi rubbed his eyes wearily as he noticed the glare she was sending them. "You two, do you happen to know any reason why Hinata would suddenly leave in the middle of the night?"

Neji quietly maintained his stoic look, but internally wondered if maybe he had pushed Hinata too far. Now she had done his worst fears by pushing her to head straight to Naruto instead of away from him.

Ryota scowled as all everyone gazed towards him. "What makes you all think I'm the reason she left?"

"We're not accusing you of anything, though you _**are **_being quite defensive." Hanabi retorted.

Ryota refused to rise to her bait and instead politely excused himself from the table. Hiashi observed him angrily shove his fists into his pockets and sighed to get up and follow after him.

"I'm sure we can both guess where she went off too." Ryota mumbled out, studying each picture within Hinata's collage. It seemed like Hinata had more memories and moments of Naruto than he had expected; each picture carefully crafted together from the old and new pieces that created a full circle. '_She must know I was the one who destroyed her artwork. Is this her way of getting revenge?'_

Hiashi nodded his head, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "You haven't been courting Hinata properly. She still favors Naruto over you even when you've been in her life for at least a few weeks now."

"A few weeks is nothing compared to the years of love she has for Naruto though that won't mean I will give up. I can go after if you wish me to." Ryota stated proudly.

Hiashi shook his head, brushing his fingers against Hinata's work before carefully taking it off the door. She had obviously put effort into creating it to make a stand against him.

"No, let's leave her be to cool off for now. She will soon realize her mistake of making such a hasty decision and I'm sure return back to the manor before the week is over." Hiashi mused confidently.

~**X**~

"Uh, Hinata; what are you doing here so late? Did you forget something here?" Jiraiya questioned with a yawn, surprised to see her of all people at their door.

Hinata shook her head, shaking a bit nervously as she realized how easily this whole plan could fail. "No, I didn't leave anything behind, but what I need to discuss with you is important."

Jiraiya furrowed his brows at that, but eventually sighed in agreement, stepping aside to let her in. '_She's carrying quite a bit of baggage for someone at this time of the night.'_

"Sorry about all the trash, I was trying to clear up the place before the garbage men came tomorrow!" Jiraiya chuckled out; glancing over his shoulder as Hinata gently pushed aside some old milk cartons and beer bottles out of the door's path.

Hinata only smiled, not bothered by the mess. "I know it's odd of me to come here late in the night, but I know the group of people who influenced Naruto with those drugs from the other day. They go by the name the Akatsuki and its possible Naruto could go back to him. I want to help stop that from happening!"

Jiraiya blinked as he took in Hinata's words. She had said it in such a rush he wasn't sure if he had heard her right.

"How…how do you know all that and what else do you know?" Jiraiya eventually asked.

Hinata could feel her face reddening, knowing the most difficult part of the conversation was coming. "Um, I actually don't know much besides that since it was only based on a friend's knowledge of them. I-I was actually thinking that if I stayed here for a few days I could learn more about why he turned to drugs in the first place while still help tutor him in school."

Jiraiya appeared puzzled for a moment at her query before he started to grin lecherously. "Oh, I get it! You want to stay here for a few days to get 'closer' to him, huh? I know how you teenagers like to behave!"

Hinata's blush deepened even more at his words. "N-No, that's not it at all! I wasn't trying to do anything like what you're thinking!"

Jiraiya laughed at her embarrassment, wondering just how deeply this girl cared for Naruto. If she was trying to play a trick on him, then it was a very good one.

"Does your father know that you're here?" Jiraiya asked, too which Hinata paused for a moment to think about it before reluctantly nodding her head.

"Well, you know what; you're the first person to give me an actual clue to what Naruto's been up to so I'll take you up on your offer and let you stay for a little bit! You seem to have a way with getting Naruto to open up too." Jiraiya explained, waggling his eyebrows at his last sentence.

Hinata laughed lightly, peering over to Naruto's room. "U-Um is Naruto still up? He should know about this news too." '_I hope he is okay with this arrangement. The last thing I would want is to make him uncomfortable.' _

"I just checked on him and saw he was asleep so the news will have to wait until morning. In the meantime, I guess make yourself at home; I can find our old air mattress since sleeping the couch would hurt after a few nights." Jiraiya reasoned, standing up to stretch.

Hinata excitedly nodded her head, gazing around the room in wonder as she moved to get a better look around the living room.

'_I've never seen someone so interested to be in this dismal apartment. She could really bring back some life into this place' _Jiraiya thought with a grin.

"Heh, maybe it was magic that brought her here to help you Naruto." Jiraiya pondered aloud.

"Magic indeed." Naruto whispered back, listening in the on two's conversation from behind his closed door with a smile. Hinata actually cared enough about him to run away from her big fancy home to come to his crappy place?

'_Enjoy your feelings of happiness while you can Naruto because the secrets you've been keeping are now in danger.' _Kurama jeered.

~x~


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry this chapter took a bit longer to put up; a mix of writer's block and school work distracted me. Let me know if you have any suggestions on ways for me to improve though! :)

**Chapter 11: Shadow Lover**

"Hinata! Are the rumors I'm hearing around school true?!" Ino cried out excitedly, greeting her at her locker before first period classes began.

"Um, what rumors?" Hinata asked with a puzzled look. She never did much that could cause her to be put in the spotlight all of the sudden or be a source of gossip.

Ino's eyes sparkled with mischief as she nudged her shoulder suggestively. "Oh, don't play dumb with me Hinata! When were you planning to tell me and the others that you moved in with Naruto?!"

'_What; how could she already know about that?! I only moved in last night!" _Hinata thought in shock, barely registering that Ino was still keeping their conversation going.

"W-Who did you here this rumor from exactly?" Hinata questioned meekly, hesitant on whether she even wanted to know the truth at the moment. _'This gossip could have been started by Ryota or Neji possibly, but they don't seem like the type of people to get involved in rumors unless they wanted to embarrass me that badly.'_

Ino arched an eyebrow at her question before grinning again. "Why from Naruto of course! I overheard him saying it to the guys while they were doing their usual morning laps around the track on my way here."

Naruto was the one spreading it? Maybe he was happier about her sudden arrival at his apartment than she had first thought. During breakfast, he had only momentarily passed her a drowsy look when Jiraiya had been explaining the situation to him, a part of her had wondered if he had even been truly paying attention or was still half asleep.

"So…don't hold out on any details from me Hinata! Just how far have you and Naruto gone?" Ino added on with a smirk.

Hinata faintly gasped, her whole face becoming a deep scarlet red. "I-I haven't even been there a full day yet!"

"That's still left you an entire night up until now to get to know each other better!" Ino countered back.

"I plan on only being there for a few days, nothing's going to happen besides me just tutoring him and hopefully stopping him for doing anything he would regret." Hinata explained.

Ino chuckled lightly at that and shook her head in disagreement. "If you say so!" She finished in a sing song voice, turning to leave for her science class down the hall.

As Hinata headed up the stairs to head to her own class, she paused to look out the window to get her own brief view of the team running. Hinata smiled gently when she saw Naruto happily joking around the others; he was acting more and more like his usual self again and putting the past behind him as she had hoped.

"I still don't understand why you go through so much trouble for that guy." Ryota said, walking up to her from the side.

"You know it's because Naruto is precious to me. I want to do my best to prevent him from getting involved with crimes or drugs." Hinata softly replied back, not even looking away from the window.

Ryota scoffed, leaning back against the nearby wall. "You're not his parent! You can't stop him from doing anything he wants to do; no matter how much you love him. Believing that moving in with him will change that is just stupid."

"While that could be true, none of that is going to stop me from trying to help him through whatever problems he's going through!" Hinata declared sincerely, finally turning to face him.

Ryota frowned for a moment before stepping forward to brush a hand against her cheek, causing her to blush nervously.

"Hinata, I still don't plan on giving up on you just yet." Ryota affirmed with a smirk.

Hinata only moved to slowly push his hand away from her cheek. "And I'm not giving up on Naruto."

~**X**~

"Wait, explain this to me again; did Hinata Hyuga really out of her own free will decide to move into _**you're **_raggedy old apartment instead of stay at her own large fancy house?!" Kiba questioned in surprise.

Naruto brushed away the sweat starting to mix into his hair. "Yeah, I'm not sure why you think it's a big deal though since the situation is probably going to be temporary and she just wants to help me with my grades really…and hey, my apartment isn't that horrible!"

Kiba snickered at Naruto's annoyed look. "Naruto, surely you don't think that's the _**only**_ reason why Hinata decided to run away and come to your place out of all the options she could have gone with, do you?"

Naruto's anger quickly dissipated into confusion. "What other reason would she have?"

'_It's painful listening to how stupid you are. This is why it was so easy for the Akatsuki to manipulate you.' _Kurama grumbled out.

Naruto ignored his spiteful comment and was about to speak up again until Sasuke ran by them.

"You should know already to not even bother in trying to explain things involving women to Naruto, Kiba. He's almost legally an adult and yet still doesn't understand that concept." Sasuke mused.

Naruto snorted under his breath as Sasuke went on ahead. '_Oh, like's he's an expert.'_

"Anyways, it seems like it's going to be a nice day today. You should take Hinata out somewhere nice to thank her for all she's been doing for you. This time her old man and so called fiancé shouldn't get in your way either." Kiba spoke up, glancing up at the clear sky as a few birds flew by.

Naruto followed his line of sight before grinning as well. "Yeah, you're right! It has been awhile since I stopped by Ichiraku's now that I think about it…"

Kiba rolled his eyes and sighed a little at Naruto's lopsided grin. "Huh, Sasuke was right; you do have a lot to learn about women."

Naruto scowled at that as he heard Kurama start to laugh once again at him in the back of his mind. "Damn it, why does everyone keep saying that?! It's not like you guys have gone out with hundreds of girls."

Kiba shrugged his shoulders, the two of them heading over the basketball court where the others were waiting on them. "I was just thinking that Hinata being a girl from a high-class family makes it odd to take her out to a ramen restaurant."

Naruto shoved his hands into his pocket with a huff as he mulled it over with a sigh. "Well, Hinata had no problems being there when I took her there after we won our game against Suna, so I don't see why we couldn't go there again. Besides, nobody can resist a good bowl of miso ramen!"

Kiba caught the ball tossed towards him and chuckled as he started to dribble it. "If you say so."

~**X**~

'_I promised Uncle I would continue to watch over Hinata to make sure she doesn't get into any type of danger, but does she really need my help anymore when she blindly trusts Naruto so much?' _Neji pondered, watching as Hinata left out the main entrance of the school with Naruto close behind as school ended for the day.

"Don't even think about trying to stop them." Tenten hissed by his ear, breaking him from his thoughts.

Neji turned to send her a snide smile. "Oh, what made you even get that idea? They are apparently according to the newest rumors I'm hearing, the hottest new couple in school, aren't they?

Tenten scoffed at Neji's underlying sarcastic tone before she started to smile victoriously. "Say what you want, but Hinata has made her choice and you nor her father can do anything about it!

'_That's what I'm frustrated by; nothing seems to stop their relationship from growing and I suppose I'll just have to wait and see how things play out.' _Neji mused, not noticing Tenten's growing frown.

"Neji…are you really that pissed that Hinata wants to be with Naruto? I mean come on; there are a lot meaner and crazier people at this school she could have fallen for." Tenten mentioned seriously.

"I wouldn't be as annoyed if the people she was temporary living with weren't known as the city's residential pervert and goofball dead last." Neji muttered back, scowling when his opinion only made Tenten start to laugh.

"Um Naruto, where exactly are we going; isn't your apartment down this street?" Hinata questioned with a point of her finger, deciding to break the silence when they passed the turn that led to his home.

Naruto nodded his head, sending her a silly grin. "Oh, were not heading that way yet! Come on, I'm treating you to some ramen at Ichiraku!"

"Naruto, I'm pretty sure there are some instant ramen cups still in your fridge-"Hinata was abruptly cut off when Naruto grabbed her hand to make their pace go faster.

"Hinata, everyone knows those store bought ramen cups don't compare to the real deal! Besides, it's been too long since I've seen Teuchi and Ayame!" Naruto explained excitedly, squeezing her hand to help her keep up.

Hinata gazed down at their entwined fingers with a blush before smiling back, his enthusiasm was truly too contagious. If he wasn't going to worry about miniscule problems like that, then neither would she.

"Hey, if it isn't my number 1 customer! What have you been up to make you be gone for so long?" Teuchi cried out upon their arrival, greeting Naruto with an affectionate ruffle of his hair.

Naruto chuckled and moved out of his grip. "Ah, just had a small run in with a stomach bug and other stuff; nothing I couldn't handle!"

Teuchi laughed in agreement before sending Hinata a smile as well as she took a seat next to them. "Make sure to keep your boyfriend in check for me, will ya? He provides a huge portion of the money I make running this business after all!"

Hinata managed to slowly nod her head, her cheeks starting to feel warm all over again from his same awkward assumption of their relationship.

"I'll get your miso ramen ready Naruto, what would you like miss?" Teuchi asked, gazing in Hinata's direction.

'_Last time I think I ordered the pork ramen, so I guess this time I can try something new.' _Hinata considered, before deciding on the beef ramen.

"Alright, I've been craving this all week!" Naruto stated happily, immediately digging into his bowl and slurping up the noodles a few minutes later.

'_Are you sure it wasn't those drugs that you were craving and not just a simple bowl of soup?' _Kurama inquired with a hiss.

'_Can't you leave me alone for a couple of hours?' _Naruto retorted back, he couldn't even eat his favorite meal without being bothered by him.

Hinata watched in awe as Naruto went through around 1 to 5 bowls in the span of around 20 minutes. "Naruto, you don't need to eat so fast, you could get a stomachache that way."

"Normally I'm on bowl 10 or 11 by now; I'm actually taking time to slow down so you can finish and enjoy your bowl too." Naruto stated, amused when it made Hinata's face redden.

Naruto continued to smirk internally when he briefly caught Hinata trying to practice his technique for eating the noodles. The more time they spent around each other, the more they would probably start to pick up on each other's habits; bad or good.

Naruto turned to peer back outside the stand and let out relaxed sigh when a warm breeze hit him until he finally noticed it: A man in a black coat with red clouds had passed through the crowds and turned to stare directly at him.

"The park: At 9 pm." He mouthed to him before he disappeared back into the midst of people surrounding the streets once more.

'_That's the same man from before! The guy who looks like Sasuke from that gang; did I really hear him correctly though?' _Naruto thought in a mix of rage and thrill. All the undesirable effects from the ecstasy pills had begun to worn off by now and left him longing for a new medication to fulfill its emptiness, even with the risks at stake. He definitely couldn't let an opportunity pass to learn more about why his gang had been so interested in him in the first place go by.

'_Damn it, I told you already to get those stupid ideas out of your head! Any drug you take will eventually be out of your system and you'll hear my voice again as always. What you should be thinking about it is ways to get revenge on that gang for all the crap they put you through!' _ Kurama demanded impatiently.

Naruto gave no response back, turning to face forward towards the stand again when he felt Hinata tap his shoulder.

"Are you alright Naruto, you abruptly stopped in the middle of eating?" Hinata asked curiously, following his dazed look into the streets. What exactly was he staring at?

'_Huh, oh yeah; don't forget about that girl either before you make a choice to go.' _Kurama pried on, chuckling when Naruto faintly frowned in realization of that.

"Hmm, yeah I'm okay; just thought I saw someone I knew in the crowds." Naruto replied back, clenching his stomach slightly at the lie. He was starting feel not as hungry anymore.

~**X**~

"Did you pass the message along to him?" Orochimaru inquired, glancing up from his tea to send Itachi a smirk.

Itachi nodded his head, taking a seat across from him. "I may have told him, but there is the possibility he won't show up."

Orochimaru laughed gently at his concern, leaning back into his chair. "There's no need to worry about that. I'm sure he can't resist the thought of a new pill getting him to not hear that demonic voice of his for an even longer period of time."

"What about the side effects?" Kabuto questioned from his side with amusement.

Orochimaru tapped his fingers against his desk quietly as he mulled it over. "I've been tinkering with this new medication for the past few days. Even I'm not too sure what effects it will have on his body, but I can't wait to find out…"

Itachi cleared his throat to gain back their attention. "Well, there is the matter that a certain girl may get in the way of those plans of yours."

Orochimaru arched an eyebrow at that, clicking his tongue in distaste. "Oh, what girl? You don't mean that violet-haired one Konan mentioned to me? She won't get in our way based on how Konan described her personality as that of the shy type."

"And how can you be so sure?" Itachi casually asked.

'_Truth be told, I can't, but if she wants to become a part of my experiment by meddling in, then I have no problems with that!' _Orochimaru mused, that would only make things even more entertaining for him.

Itachi scoffed under his breathe at Orochimaru's attitude. He was slightly surprised that Orochimaru was showing more interest in Naruto rather than his estranged brother.

'_Sasuke has the stoic personality that falls more in line with Orochimaru's compared to Naruto's more happy go lucky one. Right now he's only testing the limits of how far he can push Naruto into hysteria suppose…' _Itachi speculated.

"Well, you've informed me of the good news; is there anything else you need to report to me?" Orochimaru asked.

Itachi shook his head silently, standing up to leave. "I'm heading out now."

Orochimaru simply nodded to acknowledge it, glancing back down at his notes once more.

Itachi gazed towards the setting sun out of the corner of his eyes as he headed out of the warehouse. Telling by the mix of orange and purple hues against the horizon, nightfall would arrive in around an hour or so.

"Hey, what's with Orochimaru calling you in for so many one on one meetings all of sudden?! You aren't accepting secret payments or missions behind our backs; are you?" Deidara snapped from behind him.

Itachi turned to send him a blank stare. "I was never in this for the money."

Deidara grunted at that, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Then where are you going off to at this time of day? All of our tasks for today are already complete."

"I need to meet with the blonde haired kid again at the designated spot." Itachi replied back.

Deidara looked confused for a moment at who he was talking about before snickering. "Oh, that annoying kid; I doubt he would even show up after the "fun" we had with him! There doesn't seem to be anything special about him in my personal opinion."

Itachi shrugged, starting to walk in the direction of the park. '_I don't get what Orochimaru really sees in him either, but I plan on finding out tonight for sure…'_

~**X**~

"Naruto's been awfully quiet tonight, hasn't he? He should at least come out to eat some dinner." Jiraiya questioned loudly, staring over towards his closed door from the kitchen.

Hinata nodded her warily, her gaze fixed towards the shut door too. '_He was in such a hurry to finish our math lesson early; I doubt he really understood anything we covered.'_

Jiraiya stared at his door for a minute longer before he scowled and got up to bang on it. "Naruto, get your lazy butt out of bed already; I know you can't be that sleepy!"

Hinata reached a hand out to stop his incessant knocking. "Ah, I don't think this is the way we should go about trying to get him to come out! Using anger only seems to drive him even further away from you."

Jiraiya paused his banging and sighed at Hinata's reason. "You make a good point, but I know even Naruto couldn't sleep through the noise I've been making. I'm about to use force now, whether he wants me to or not, so step aside!"

Hinata opened her mouth to protest, but Jiraiya punched through the door in one sweeping move before she could get a word out.

'_Wow…I didn't know he was so strong! He certainly hides it well behind his goofy personality.' _Hinata thought in surprise, watching as Jiraiya nonchalantly stepped over the now crumbled pieces of wood scattered along the floor.

Jiraiya's annoyed expression quickly morphed into one of worry as he glanced around the room. Naruto was nowhere in sight.

"Damn it; don't tell me I was too late to stop him again!" Jiraiya cursed under his breathe, gazing towards the half open window. There was no telling when exactly he had left to escape into darkness of the night.

Hinata nervously followed him into the room and bit her lip in worry when Jiraiya only quietly sat down on Naruto's bed.

"Looks like we were a little too late on checking on him, huh?" Jiraiya mumbled out, letting out a small chuckle.

Hinata peered over to the window as her eyes widened in realization as she recalled Naruto's behavior earlier in the day. '_Back at the ramen stand he had abruptly gained such a dazed look staring at somebody. Oh, why didn't I pay more attention to how he was behaving while I was tutoring him and back then! It's my first full day here and I already couldn't stop him from falling back towards this addiction, but I can fix my mistake maybe…Naruto had been grumbling something about the park…'_

"Guess I'm going to need to inform the Konoha police of him missing, though I doubt they will put any effort into looking for him." Jiraiya grumbled.

"No, I don't believe that's necessary yet. I have an idea of where Naruto went." Hinata spoke up, getting Jiraiya's attention.

Jiraiya rubbed a hand through his spiky white hair at Hinata's determined look. "Oh, you think this has something to do with that Akatsuki group you were mentioned to me beforehand, don't you? I'm not going to let you walk into danger alone if you plan to go after him."

Hinata shook her head, sending Jiraiya a small smile. "Of course not, but you must remember I'm here to help you with Naruto too. You don't have to try handling all of his problems going solo."

Jiraiya nodded his head, standing up to close Naruto's window and step back into the living room. "Lead the way then!"

Hinata moved to grab her light gray jacket off the couch and mentally prep herself to be confident not only for her own mental wellbeing, but for what she could possibly have to deal with before the night was truly over.

'_I really hope we're not too late.' _Hinata considered, briskly walking towards the park with Jiraiya close behind.

"How do you feel Naruto?" Itachi asked curiously, smirking at Naruto's disoriented expression. Orochimaru was right; this new drug had started taken effect in only a matter of minutes.

Naruto only laughed manically, swaying slightly as he tried to stand up straight. "I'm fine…great even! Everything is so bright colorful now that I don't hear _**his **_voice. Hey, when can I get the next dose?!"

Itachi took a step back when Naruto tried to reach for more of the pills. "You'll have to wait on getting more until I see the results from this pill wear off."

Naruto growled in frustration before arching his eyebrow when he noticed Jiraiya and Hinata walk up behind Itachi. "Old man and Hinata, what cha doing here?"

Itachi sent them a side glance, observing as Jiraiya sent him a glare while Hinata rushed forward towards Naruto.

'_That cloak, now I really have an idea of the group that Hinata was talking about, but is he really working for who I think it is?' _Jiraiya thought, carefully following Itachi's movements in case he planned to suddenly attack them.

"Naruto, please snap out of it! Jiraiya and I came to help you!" Hinata cried out, shaking his arm to get his focus.

Naruto swayed slightly before he reached out to poke her cheek and face suspiciously. "Why did you come here with Jiraiya though? He's the one who's been getting in my way! I only want to stop hearing Kurama's voice and this is the best way I know how. Why does everyone keep trying to stop that from happening…?"

Hinata blinked in puzzlement at Naruto's slurred out words. How could she be sure that anything he was saying was true and not just a side effect from the drug he took?

Itachi scowled at how noisy Naruto was being and turned to leave, briefly catching Hinata's cautious gaze towards him. "Naruto, I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon once again and possibly this girl of yours too." '_It seems things will be a lot more interesting now that more people have become involved.'_

"Shouldn't we go after him or at least tell the police?" Hinata questioned to Jiraiya, who was silently watching the man leave.

Jiraiya slowly shook his head, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "This is not something we can rush into and potentially cause more innocent people to get hurt or be in danger if we threaten to expose their gang too early. We both need to collect more research on this group and besides; our priority is to take care of Naruto for now."

~**X**~

"Alright Hinata, you try and get his sweaty shirt off while I get some cool washcloths and some water to flush out that medication!" Jiraiya ordered, rushing towards the kitchen for some ice and other materials.

'_That's easier said than done…Naruto won't stop moving around!'_ Hinata thought with a blush, trying her best to get Naruto to stop squirming and stay still.

"Hinata, that tickles! Why are ya trying to do; get me naked or something?" Naruto asked, moving out of her reach once more to get near him by blocking her hands.

Hinata sighed and paused as she realized how odd she must have been acting to him. "Naruto, you've gotten so sweaty, you're trembling, and I'm sure I heard your heart racing as Jiraiya and I took you back here."

Naruto snorted lightly, scooting back to the end of his bed. "I already told the both of you I'm fine! Stop looking at me that way…" Naruto trailed off, noticing Hinata was gaining tears in the corners of her opalescent eyes.

Naruto groaned and reached out to wipe them away. "Why are you crying over me? You're too pretty to be crying over someone like me…"

"That's not true Naruto! At least let me help calm you down." Hinata whispered back urgently.

"But Hinata, I don't need any help…I'm okay!" Naruto said with a deranged laugh, getting up off his bed to try and push her back out of his room.

"I'm sure you need more rest than me anyways, it has been a long day for you after all. Plus, I won't let you interfere…" Naruto continued on. Hinata turned to send him one last troubled glance at his abrupt colder words as he turned off all the lights in his room and shut his door quickly.

An eerie thought occurred to her as she tried in vain to get him to open back his door:

When had his eyes turned that dark shade of red?

~x~


End file.
